Carmine Complex
by The BirdFox Hybrid Productions
Summary: Roxas was pretty sure that he would rather subject himself to spontaneous combustion than to deal with the absurdity that came hand in hand with going to a public high school. Unfortunately, fate hated him. AkuRoku.
1. Carmine

_**Carmine Complex**_

_The Bird-Fox Hybrid Productions _

**Disclaimer:** If we owned it, it wouldn't be legal.

**Warning:** _This is a slash fic. As in yaoi. And in two boys in romantic and/or dirty situations. If you can't see the utter hotness that is guy on guy, we suggest you not read this._

**Pairings:** AkuRoku, RikuSora, LeonCloud, and a different kind of Zemyx.

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**carmine: **adj. – _A strong to vibrant shade of red._

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Roxas wasn't particularly pleased when the information had first reached his ears. In fact, he'd been downright pissed off for two weeks straight. To hear that his parent's had only been able to shell out enough money to cover his freshman year at Twilight Academy, and had not saved up enough to even grant him a possible two years at the aforementioned school, well that in itself had the boy seeing red. To hear that he'd be attending a public school once again was just icing on the proverbial cake of misery.

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"Come on, Roxas. It won't be that bad!" Niikura Sora pleaded with his younger brother, hoping to lighten his mood. "I mean, I know you like your school, and I know you won't get half the chance of having a high paying, successful career anywhere else, but look at the bright side-" He paused to roll over from his back to his stomach, facing his younger brother so he could smile at his blond counterpart.

Roxas raised an eyebrow, not quite sharing his sibling's exuberant optimism as he continued to shuffle around his bedroom, picking up notebooks and pencils to stick into his new backpack.

"I always look on the bright side of life." He grumbled, his statement laced with a copious amount of sarcasm. Whether the biting comment had been ignored, or improperly translated into his brothers mind, Roxas would never know, because the brunet nodded eagerly, slipping his elbows underneath his body to sit up the slightest bit. He rested his chin on the knuckles of his interlaced fingers, feet kicking back and forth in the air.

"Of course there is! Now you won't have to wear those boring uniforms-- and you can see all of our old friends on a regular basis, and best of all-" Sora pressed his hands into the bed, pushing his body up and sliding forth to sit with his legs crossed. His ever present smile was blinding to Roxas, and the blond nearly had to shield his eyes from it's gleeful ways.

"You get to go to school with your beloved brother again!" Sora gesticulated wildly before slapping a hand to his chest.

Roxas shook his head and continued haphazardly sifting through his dresser drawers.

"Sora, I'm supposed to **want** to go to the school, not fear the concept." He said flatly. Sora deflated and fell backwards onto the bed with a loud sigh..

"That's just mean, Rox." The brunet boy whined, his feet waving back and forth in the air. He didn't understand why his brother was making such a big deal about the situation -- then again -- Sora didn't understand a lot of things about his darling brother.

Roxas didn't reply. Instead, he pulled out the item he'd been looking for- his now former uniform shirt. He tossed the shirt onto his desk chair with all his other uniform items. Sora sat up and jumped off his brother's bed with a huff. Roxas wasn't usually this grouchy, but it was understandable... sort of.

Sora padded across the room, pausing in the doorway to give his sibling one last look. "Since it's obvious that I can't cheer you up at the moment, make sure to come talk to me once you've achieved the status of being in a good mood." Sora left, the door shutting quietly behind him.

Roxas stared at his door for a moment before going and flopping backwards onto his bed with a sigh. He didn't mean to be such a jerk to Sora, but honestly, it made him feel better. He liked Twilight Academy. He was used to it. And he had made some really nice friends. He didn't want to leave to go to some bland, overcrowded, inadequately educating high school.

Roxas groaned and rolled over. He tried thinking of all the positive things about this change (or the 'bright side', as Sora so lovingly called it.) He could wear regular clothes to school….but he wasn't entirely sure he liked that idea. Uniforms were easy. They were there, you put them on, and you went to school. You didn't have to worry or think about what to wear, because everyone else at school was wearing the exact same outfit. It was one less thing for people to make fun of others for.

The friend part Roxas could agree on. In middle school, he had been with his friends, like Hayner and Pence and Olette. It was one thing he could look forward to, seeing his friends in school again instead of having to make plans and hang out whenever there was free time. It wouldn't be _so_ bad, going to this new school.

Roxas sighed again and heaved himself off of his bed. He might as well go apologize to Sora and do something more entertaining than lying on his bed, staring at the wall. He slipped out of his room and padded down the hallway, stopping at his brother's closed bedroom door. He knocked once, didn't wait for a response, and let himself in.

Sora either didn't notice Roxas or just ignored him. He was lying stomach down on his bed with a game controller clutched firmly in his hands. He glared at his TV screen and furiously punched buttons on his controller, hands jerking at the movements.

"No! Jump! Jump dammit!" Sora shrieked, his legs slamming down onto the bed. A voice (the bad guy, by the sound of it) bellowed something about wind, and Sora threw his controller down in disgust, ignoring when it bounced and rolled after originally hitting the ground with an unhealthy crack.

"Stupid ugly bastard." He hissed viciously at his television, giving the inatimate object a look that would ensure sudden doom-induced death had it been a living object.

Roxas decided to make his presence known.

"Sora."

The other boy's gaze snapped over to him, his once hate-filled eyes now wide and surprised. "Hey- when did you show up?" Roxas hid the smirk that wanted to be shown at his brother's typical oblivious nature. "I've been standing here since you got your ass kicked by your own video game."

Sora nodded slowly, mouth open in an 'oh' formation. Roxas entered his brother's room completely and sat down next to him on the bed. "Sorry about being such a jerk earlier. I know you're just trying to help." The blond boy said softly, trying to sound as sincere as possible.

Sora shot him a playful smile. "Since when did you start apologizing for that?" He asked, a teasing glint in his ocean eyes. Despite the jab, Roxas gave Sora a small grin in reply.

Sora's moods were contagious, something that Roxas would sometimes hate-- especially if he was making light of a dramatic situation. Around Sora, all negative emotions could simply evaporate into the air to make room for the gleeful ways of the brown haired boy.

"I'm apologizing, so be content with that.."

Sora snickered and picked up his roughly discarded controller. He held it out to Roxas. "Wanna try? I think if I lose to this guy one more time, I'll throw the damn game out the window."

Roxas shrugged. "Sure. I'm just wasting brain cells, anyway. Why not waste them on something entertaining like videogames?" He scooted over to lay down beside his brother, hitting the start button to un-pause the game.

"Amen." Sora finalized.

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Rule number one: Don't panic.

Roxas repeated that phrase in his mind like a rabid mantra as he sat in the backseat with Sora. Their elder brother was driving the two, having decided to show some form of support for his youngest sibling. Roxas could feel every kind of doubt possible niggling at the back of his head.

Oh well, at least he got a decent education for 9th grade. As for 10th and above, things weren't looking too bright.

Whether or not he realized it, Roxas had been giving Sora a sour look for the past three minutes, and Sora dutifully responded. "Don't gimme that look, Roxas. You don't even know what it's gonna be like." He reprimanded, waggling a finger.

"He'll get over it, Sora." Roxas's oldest brother, Cloud, stated as he turned into the school parking lot. Roxas chose not to respond, crossing his arms and glaring at the school through his window. The car rolled to a stop and Sora gleefully stated the obvious fact of their arrival, hopping out of the car and running around to wrench open Roxas's door.

The blonde stumbled out, his wrist in Sora's tight grasp. The brunette waved wildly to Cloud as the man drove off before turning to Roxas.

"Welcome to Oblivion High."

**--------------------**

**Author's notes**

**Psycho Rooster** - Okay, we've been planning this story for over a month, and now we're finally able to post it, but I'm not sure how often we will be updating. But have this in mind. We WILL be updating, be it next week or next year. We have plans for this story, and its brothers, Consanguini, Viability and Hero complex. (which will be posted at later times) So please don't bail on us by not reviewing. Reviews are what helps get me to write

**Random Kyuubi** - as another note, all the chapters following this one will be five to six times as long as this. Think of this chapter as an intro more than anything. :D


	2. Malachite

**The Carmine Complex**

_**The Bird-Fox Hybrid Productions**_

**Disclaimer:** If we owned it... it wouldn't be legal. **Anywhere.** Not even in Canada.

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**malachite** (mal-uh-kite) _n._ A light to dark green

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Roxas stared with apprehension at the dark, looming building before him. The fact that it was the only school he had ever seen that was painted completely _black_ wouldn't have bothered him quite so badly if the building wasn't giving off a sinister, spiraling aura that left one with the feeling of complete and utter despair.

"C'mon!" Sora, who was already halfway up the front steps, yelled over his shoulder.

Roxas let out a shuddering sigh and hurried to catch up with his brother. As he climbed the steps, the blonde studied the large white sign hung above the entrance doors. It read 'Oblivion High' In gloomy, curved black letters, with the school's insignia branded next to it. It was the freakin' weirdest school symbol Roxas had ever seen. It was like... a cock. A big...white cock. (It's actually the Nobody crest… )

_Oh_- **what the fuck?**

Roxas scurried through one of the doors Sora was holding open for him, waiting for his brother before he continued walking, an annoyingly bouncy spring in each of his steps that seemed to be the source of the twitch Roxas had begun to recently develop in his right eye.

"I'll show you where your first period is!" Sora announced brightly, spinning around and readying himself to shoot off in the other direction.

He paused, face going blank, then screwing up in concentration before dropping into yet another clueless expression.

"Uh…what **is** your first period?" Sora asked sheepishly after a moment's mental debate. Roxas held back the urge to let lose a long and suffering sigh at the childish actions of his brother.

"Trigonometry. Room 403. We went over my schedule four times before school started, Sora. Or don't you remember?" Judging from Sora's intrigued look, Roxas assumed he had, in fact, forgotten.

There was a split second of awkward silence before Sora's back went rigid and he shot his hand into the air, index finger pointed skyward. "Room four-oh-three!" He shouted triumphantly, and Roxas almost, _almost_, gave in to that nagging need to slap his forehead.

Somewhere along the line, Sora had deemed it appropriate to drag him like some kind of madman through the ironically, and creepishly fluorescent hallways, and weaving through the crowds of un-uniformed students that definitely _didn't_ intimidate Roxas in the slightest.

Roxas had to remind himself never to let Sora show him to any of his classes if he valued his shoulder joint.

_Ow._

The blond saw as they approached the mathematics wing, a group of strangely clad teenagers standing close to the door of Roxas' first period class.

Judging by the way Sora's eyes lit up, Roxas figured his brother knew these kids. There were five altogether, three of which were actually talking to each other and standing in a small circle. Two of them, a blue headed boy with a flop of hair covering one side of his face and a blonde girl both sat against the wall next to the door of the math room. The boy was reading a book, and the girl was applying a nice layer of eyeliner to the underside of her right eye.

"Hey guys!" Sora called out, stopping in front of the three standing. There was a simultaneous cry of Sora's name as a boy with pink hair and about four layers of black, pink, and yellow clothing latched onto the brunette boy with a squeal. Sora gleefully returned the embrace. Roxas wasn't sure if he was supposed to be embarrassed or amused when they started hopping around in a circle.

There was a pause before the pink haired boy pulled back, clearing his throat and awkwardly straightening his three shirts. He patted Sora on the head, looking nearly embarrassed at his own actions.

"Sorry. I had a temporary lapse of sanity." He said lightly, as if to dismiss his previous actions. Roxas raised an eyebrow and Sora laughed.

"As usual, Marluxia. As usual. And all is forgiven."

As his brother exchanged greetings with his friends, Roxas took time to examine the odd group. The lavender haired boy with the book was watching the entire group silently. He was wearing a white oxford shirt and black baggy pants. Simple enough, if it weren't for the picture of the bloody heart plastered on the front of the shirt. Had it been a cartoon heart, Roxas wouldn't have minded as much as the actual organ. Well, Sora was pretty eccentric himself, and it _did _look kind of cool, in a freaky Jack the ripper sort of way.

There was another blue-haired boy with a scar on his forehead. He wore... wait... were those girl pants?

Roxas turned away from him before he could give in to the urge to examine that fact.

The guy standing next to Roxas had two-tone hair, with white highlights. He looked dazed, reaching out to grasp at nothing in the air and then pulling it back to examine it with his one eye..

One- oh dude. He had an eye-patch. Did he lose it in a car accident? What if someone had been trying to kill him?

Before Roxas could further contemplate the eye patch, his thoughts were interrupted by a blonde mohawk and a shit-eating grin, both of which were accompanied by crazy hyper Japanese music blasting from a pair of headphones around the guy's neck. Roxas did a double take and jerked his head back.

"Sora! Is this your little brother? Ohmigod, he's more adorable than Shirley Temple and Jeremy Sumter's nonexistent love-child!" The guy blurted out before Roxas' face was shoved into a blue-clad chest. From this new position, Roxas could hear a childish voice from the headphones singing about bumblebees. _Oh jesus..._

Roxas could feel his face heat up as he was tightly embraced and suddenly flung back and forth.

"Please let me go." Roxas muttered into the teen's chest. He could hear Sora laughing at his misfortune as he was released with a dejected 'Aww.' The guy immediately perked back up and grabbed Roxas' hand , shaking it furiously.

"I'm Demyx!" He greeted with the same grin as before. Roxas was practically being flung back and forth again with the enthusiastic handshake.

"I'm…uh…Roxas." The smaller blonde almost squeaked out. A_lmost_, squeaked, but didn't.

The crazy mohawk guy, apparently named Demyx, spun around and pulled Roxas with him. "Hey guys, this is Sora's brother Roxas!"

Thank you Captain Obvious.

Sora smiled and sidled up to his brother. "Okay, that's Marluxia-" He pointed to the pink haired boy with the multi-color-coded layers of clothing, and received a cheerful hand flip followed by the chiming of many bracelets.

"And that's Xigbar-" He swung over to the one with the eye patch, who was relaying something with wild hand motions to the wall behind him about being assaulted by a large glass of kool-aid.

"And Saix-" Sora gestured to the guy with the girl's pants standing solemnly beside Xigbar, listening to his story with either real or feigned interest, though his extreme amusement was quite apparent.

"And that's Zexion and Larxene." The brunette shifted over to the two sitting against the wall. Larxene gave a short, unenthusiastic wave, but Roxas otherwise got no response from either of them.

Sora returned to his spot between Marluxia and Xigbar, instantly hopping in to Xigbar's tale with a question about something pertaining to Kool-aid.

Demyx clapped a hand on Roxas' shoulder. "Don't mind them. They'll get a little more talkative once you get to know them better." He beamed reassuringly, and was given a background chorus about coconuts from his headphones.

Roxas discreetly slipped out from under Demyx's hand. "Y-yeah.." He murmured, just slightly uneasy at the utter nice-ness that he was being slapped with this fine morning.

He turned around, preparing to go and sit against the wall somewhat near, yet not too close to Zexion and Larxene. That would have been fine if he had seen the black messenger bag directly in his line of walking. He didn't. Instead, it caught under his foot and he lurched forward.

Roxas squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself for the impact of his face into the checkered nylon floor, but it never came. Something warm wrapped around his middle, and his downward descent halted.

Roxas chanced cracking one eye open, and found a pale hand grasping just below his shoulder and keeping him upright. That meant a person had saved him. It was probably the scary Demyx kid looking for a reason to molest him in the halls...

The blonde's gaze snapped up to the individual who was holding him, and a pair of vibrant jade eyes locked with his own. They were glittered with mild amusement, eyebrows raised.

Roxas' breath hitched in his throat.

Ah. Oh... shit.

His brain must have gone into lockdown too. He couldn't move. He suddenly had the urge to sit in those arms all day and stare at his savior's eyes.

It was the green-eyed guy who broke the silence first.

"Hey- did you know there was a bag there?" He asked softly, self-confident and teasing in that one sentence.

Roxas felt his heart skip a beat.

"Axel! There you are!" Roxas heard Sora shout from behind them. Roxas blushed, even more-so when Axel pulled him to his feet, one hand on his shoulder to make sure he was steadied.

"Roxas, this is Axel. Axel, this is my little brother Roxas." Sora said cheerily, hands waving in their general direction as well as a few other ones.

Now that Roxas was upright, he could see this guy- Axel, clearly. He had a mass of untamed, wild red hair. It was unlike anything Roxas had ever seen. It was pretty awesome, actually. He desperately tried _not _to get sucked into Axel's entrancing gaze yet again and make a total ass of himself, so he instead focused on the things right below the guy's eyes- two triangular black tattoos, almost resembling teardrops.

Axel smirked again and placed a hand on his hip. Roxas followed the movement. Man, this guy was skinny! Granted, he was wearing a tight black shirt with some deformed cartoon creature on the front, a wristband with the same deformed cartoon creature sewn onto it, and a pair of black cargo pants. (Roxas wondered if they had, yet again, the same deformed cartoon creature on the ass... he'd have to check later.)

The dark eyeliner around his eyes made those bright viridian orbs stand out even more-so.

Axel peered over Roxas and gave Demyx a pitying look. "Great job watching my bag, Demyx. It was really smart to think of moving it against the wall so maybe, I dunno, people don't trip over it?" The sarcasm in his voice was thickly coated, so that not even Demyx wouldn't be able to take the hint.

Demyx chuckled nervously. "Well, you see, I was so excited at meeting Roxas that I happened to conveniently forget to safely stash your bag next to Zexion while you wandered off to eat breakfast." He scratched the corner of his cheek, and his eyes widened, as if struck by a thought.

"Hey- why _did_ you go get breakfast? You normally eat at home, don't you?" Judging from the disgruntled expression on Axel's face, Roxas could safely assume the blame was to land somewhere else.

"Because my dumbass brother was too much of a fucktard to set his alarm and so I had to pay the price when he dragged me out of the apartment only half-dressed beca-" He was promptly cut off by the shrill ring of the first period bell. Axel let out a sigh, giving the ceiling a look that clearly asked _'Why God.. Why do you mock me so?'_

Marluxia cursed and hurried to catch up with Zexion and Larxene. Zexion was smart enough to know that the bell was going to ring, and therefore he had already gotten up and started down the hall precisely twenty seconds ago. Larxene had silently followed him.

Sora threw a quick hug around Roxas and then pulled away to hurry to his first period.

"I'll be back to take you to your second period!" The brunette yelled over his shoulder, jogging after Marluxia. Within a matter of seconds, the two disappeared into the throng of the crowd. It was almost creepy.

Roxas glanced to his left. Xigbar, Saix, Demyx, and Axel were left. It looked like he was stuck with them. Why did Sora pick them as friends, anyway? Oh yeah, because they were weird, just like his brother. Dur.

Roxas was very quickly becoming accustomed to the manic grins that often danced their way onto Demyx's face when the taller blonde sent one his way and slung an arm over Roxas' shoulder.

"You can sit with us!" He led Roxas into the trigonometry classroom, both of them following Axel. It was then that Roxas was disappointed to find out that certain aspects of the redhead's pants did not, in fact, bear the same demented cartoon creature as his chest and wrist.

To any bystander, it was an amusing site to see the happy crew making a bee-line for the back of the class, led by Xigbar, Saix, and Axel with Demyx and Roxas not too far behind. Roxas glanced to the front of the room, where the teacher….Mr. ….Xemnas...(if Roxas remembered correctly) was regarding the class coldly. The man's orange eyes narrowed when they landed on Roxas' new little group of friends.

Demyx directed Roxas to the empty desk beside Axel, then took a seat on the left side of the blonde.

Axel leaned over to Roxas. "This is our trig teacher, Malibu Mansex." He gestured to Mr. Xemnas at the front of the room. Demyx's eyes bugged and he clapped a hand over his mouth to keep his cracking up to a minimum.

The look on Roxas's face could quite easily be described as an _'Excuse me, I believe I just saw you slap a pig in the face.'_ type of expression.

Axel waved his arm to the teacher and Roxas gazed at him for a second more before twisting his head to give the man a good hard stare. Axel leaned in close, mouth almost brushing Roxas's ear as he whispered. "Think Malibu Barbie, only on crack and with a tanning salon instead of actual sun."

Roxas's eyes grew large in realization. _Ohhhhhhhh._

But...

" Malibu…._Mansex_?"

Axel ginned, looking quite smug.

It was Demyx who spoke, whispering in Roxas's other ear. "If you switch around the letters in Xemnas' name, you get Mansex."

Roxas was only slightly disturbed, and would have been more-so if he wasn't getting that inflating feeling in his chest that signaled the urge to grin and laugh.

Mr. Xemnas cleared his throat, signaling for the class to shut up. Everyone, save for a few souls in the back row, immediately quieted down and straightened up at theirs desks. Roxas guessed Xemnas intimidated them a little. He didn't blame them. The man gave off a _really_ creepy vibe.

"Welcome to Trigonometry. You** lucky** children have it first period." From the sound of it, the man was being as sincere as a creepy man with a Malibu tan could get. His eyes calmly surveyed the class, "Of course, some of you most certainly deserve this." His eyes stopped on Axel, who grinned evilly and put two fingers to his forehead in a mock salute.

Mr. Xemnas turned away with disinterest and retrieved a stack of papers from his desk. "These are the information forms you are required to fill out for every class. Pass them down." He said with his no-nonsense voice, moving swiftly around the room and distributing a few of the sheets to each row.

When he got to Roxas's row, he smacked the stack of papers onto Demyx's head with a bland look and walked off, letting them slip off the blonde's head and thump to the desk, two of the forms falling off and onto the floor. Demyx was only mildly surprised, and looked more like he was restraining a fit of giggles than anything.

Roxas watched Demyx stick his tongue out at Xemnas and scoot down in his seat to grab the papers with his shoe and slide them back.

Roxas gave him a hearty glare when his paper had a shoe-print on it and Demyx's was clean. Demyx gave the other shoe-print paper to Axel, who made an indignant squawk about dirty forms, and continued passing it down until it reached Xigbar, who was really too stoned to care about the cleanliness of his information sheet.

Roxas's eyes slowly skimmed the form once the paper passing and arguing was over with. Pretty standard. Name, address, phone number, class schedule, blah. He pulled out a pen from his book-bag when he heard Mr. Xemnas instruct the class to fill out the form, but paused after he wrote down his name. He discreetly tilted his head to the right to try and catch a glimpse of what his companions were doing, just to see if he was the only one actually filling the form out.

Axel crumpled his piece of paper up and shoved it into his desk with a sigh, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms. Roxas raised an eyebrow and glanced to the left, where Demyx was making a rather crude doodle on the paper of himself dancing around with a guitar and water flying around him everywhere.

Roxas looked to his right again, leaning forward to peer past Axel's pouting frame. Xigbar had torn his paper into strips and was rolling them into fat rolls. It didn't look very efficient for shooting spit-wads at though...Roxas looked past Xigbar to see that Saix just stared at the paper on his desk, not moving an inch.

"Uh…Aren't we supposed to fill these out?" Roxas asked, quietly, as he leaned over to his red-haired companion.

Axel snorted. "Like I'm giving that fuckin' pedophile my address." He shot back, quite a bit louder than necessary.

"_a hee hee_." Demyx sang, his voice high in a sick imitation of Michael Jackson. Axel cackled. Roxas, though finding the point of the joke, restrained from laughing or even showing his amusement at their childish humor.

"That's not the reason they have these. Besides, it would be better to fill them out so we don't get in trouble." Roxas was only slightly miffed at their casual attitude about disobeying orders.

Axel and Demyx glanced around Roxas and at each other, exchanging equal grins. Roxas looked from the blonde to the redhead, a disturbing twin vibe creeping up his spine and tickling the back of his neck.

Wait.. that was just Demyx's hand.

"Aw, he has respect for teachers. How cute!" Demyx cooed, the hand that was around Roxas's neck pulling the younger teen towards himself and pinching one of his cheeks, wiggling his head back and forth before Roxas slapped his hand with an angry "stop that!"

Demyx released him with a pout, waving his injured hand back and forth and blowing on it. The other hand ruffling his hair made Roxas turn and blush wildly to see Axel granting him with the most heart-warming smile ever.

Roxas wanted to smile back just because of it.

"Don't worry. You'll grow out of it." Axel said softly, as if he was talking to Roxas like the boy had realized that he was biting his nails.

Xigbar suddenly let out a yell and flew back, knocking his chair to the ground. His eye was wide and crazed, back pressed against the wall, one hand flat against it, the other shaking as it angrily pointed to the back of the guy in the row in front of them.

Roxas jumped at the sudden noise. "Damn woodlice!" Xigbar roared furiously. Most of the class watched the scene with mixed levels of curiosity. Mr. Xemnas glanced up from his desk, sighed irritably, and went back to whatever he was doing, shuffling papers and then grabbing his pen to write.

The calm actions of his teacher knocked Roxas out of his shocked stupor, placing a hand on Axel's shoulder to get his attention. (and he was most definitely not marveling at the soothing warmth of the other boy's body.)

"Is... er... is he okay?" The blonde teen asked quietly.

Axel let out the smallest of laughs, realizing that Roxas was still a bit out of the loop. "He's fine, just stoned." He informed almost casually. Roxas' eyes widened.

"Stoned? In school?" There hadn't been any druggies in his old school. At Twilight Academy, if anybody who went there did drugs, they probably did them at home, because the last kid who seemed even remotely stoned was escorted away by the police. He didn't think anybody was stupid enough to do them when they had to go to school.

Demyx grinned, leaning forward to catch the attention of Axel and Roxas. "Don't be surprised. Xigbar's probably the biggest stoner you'll ever meet. If there's ever a time you see him and he's not high, you know the apocalypse is coming." He interjected.

"Uh…doesn't that interfere with his schoolwork?" Correct him if he was wrong, but Roxas was under the impression that one was a bit impaired when they were high.

"Nope. Ironically, he's got mad ninja brainiac skills when he's stoned."

That _really_ didn't make sense.

Axel patted him on the shoulder. "You'll get used to it." He said.

Roxas nearly jumped again when the bell rang. Axel grabbed his messenger bag and scooted out of his chair with a muttering of "Finally." Demyx stood and stretched leisurely, taking his time with getting his things. Saix was already leaving with Xigbar in tow.

Roxas just shrugged and followed Demyx and Axel like he did before. "So, what do you have next?" Demyx asked the smaller blond, sidling up to him and slinging an arm over his shoulder again.

"Er…English II. Honors." He awkwardly replied around Demyx's arm. Axel let out a puff of air, pulling Demyx's arm off of Roxas and replacing it with his own.

"The English teacher's a dickhole." He kindly informed the smaller boy.

"Yeah. A complete tight ass." Demyx didn't seem too offended with being replaced, and walked in stride with them, trying not to get lost in the crowd as people pushed past. Axel nodded solemnly, patting Roxas on the arm.

"The crazy douche thinks he's still in the British royal navy, always ordering everybody around and shit. But I don't think you have much to worry about. You're one of those kids who actually does their work." Axel reassured him kindly, his hand moving to ruffle Roxas's hair again. Roxas tried not to get his hopes up in thinking that Axel liked his hair just that much..

"What do you have third period?" Demyx switched the subject as they left the classroom, though he had to wait until Axel and Roxas walked through the door before slipping through it and jumping forward to keep in stride with the other two.

"LMS." Roxas replied almost instantly. He remembered that class better than the others because it was one of the few classes he had with his brother. Demyx squealed in his ear and Roxas jerked to the side, head thumping against Axel's chest- who chuckled softly and sent a light blush onto Roxas's face.

"Yay! You have it with us!" Demyx exclaimed, hauling Roxas into a crushing hug after ripping him from Axel's leisurely hold.

Axel pulled Roxas out of the mohawked boy's grasp before the life could be squeezed out of the poor blonde boy. If Roxas could blush any more, he did right then.

"Calm down, you're gonna choke him to death, Jesus.." Axel said angrily. Roxas' eyes traveled down the hallway as he caught his breath.

"Speaking of death…" Roxas announced. Demyx and Axel turned around just in time to see Sora fly at Roxas and tackle the boy into another crushing hug, sending them both to the ground and knocking down random passerbys, who in turn, fell into others and created a mass hallway wave.

With Axel and Demyx standing in the center.

Demyx dropped to the ground and let Axel fend for himself as an angry dark-skinned girl stormed up to him and started cussing him out. A hahaha. Demyx needed some popcorn to go with this show. Axel was at least six feet, and he was getting his ass chewed out by a girl half his size.

When Sora was satisfied with hugging the life out of his brother, he pulled back with a wide grin.

"I'm here to take you to second period!" Roxas was blinded again by Sora's horridly bright smile. He didn't share the look.

"See you in LMS, Roxas!" Demyx called out with all the brightness that Sora had before saving Axel from his vocal beat-down and dragging him down the hallway. Roxas watched as Axel turned to catch Roxas's gaze, smiling at him and making Roxas's heart jump. The redhead gave him a small wave and allowed Demyx to tug him through the crowd.

Roxas watched the redhead's retreating form until he was quite literally jerked back into reality as Sora took off down the other end of the hallway. He was rambling about potatoes or something, hand wrapped around Roxas's wrist.

----

Well, Axel and Demyx were right when they said that the English teacher was a tight ass.

As soon as he got into his seat, Mr. Norrington had started with a lecture of some sort. Apparently, the two boys had also been right about the Royal Navy part, since the teacher insisted on being called 'Commodore Norrington.'

"You are all in English II Honors," Norrington began, stiffly walking in front of his desk hands clasped behind his back at the elbows. "This also means I will not hold your hands through anything we do. I expect you to be able to work at your grade level." The man stopped his pacing and turned to face the classroom, surveying them all with a cold stare.

Roxas didn't know anyone in the class, which meant he had nobody to talk to. Or talk to him. So he opted to stay silent. Commodore Norrington didn't seem like the type of teacher to be lenient with anything that disrupted his class, anyway.

The rest of the period was spent with Norrington explaining the class rules and filling out the required information form. He'd had some pissy teachers at his old school, but this guy was definitely the worst. He was leaking arrogance out of his pores. (which were pristinely acne-free, mind you) Roxas was glad when the bell rang.

As soon as he stepped out of the classroom, he was greeted with a face-full of mohawk and and manic red. He jerked back and stared at Demyx and Axel in alarm. The duo stood, blocking his only safe escape, their arms on their hips and cheery grins tickling Roxas's irritation button.

"What are you doing here?" He asked. He really hadn't expected them to be waiting outside his class.

"We came to take you to our third period!" Demyx sounded like a fuckin' Stepford Wife in that one sentence.

Roxas kept a tight grip on his urge to shudder and backpedal into the classroom.

He looked to Axel and the redhead gave him a small nod in affirmation to Demyx's vomit-inducingly happy statement.

Roxas glanced left and right down the halls. He didn't see any sign of Sora. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Well, it didn't really matter because they were all going to the same place, right?

"Um…Okay." Roxas replied carefully. He was pretty sure he could trust them.

…….

No he wasn't.

"Onward!" Demyx squawked, linking one of his arms with Roxas' and trying to link his other arm with Axel's, but got a slap in the face for the effort. Demyx cupped his cheek, giving Axel the same look your dog gave you when they wanted you to pet them and you told them to go lay down.

He then sulked for a split second before cheerily jerking Roxas down the hall, Axel in tow.

Apparently, the LMS classroom was almost all the way across the building, because they made more twists and turns than Roxas cared to remember before they finally stopped in front of a door that was labeled: **LMS,** with the number eight hundred below it.

When they entered, Demyx immediately spotted Xigbar already at one of the back tables. He grinned and skipped toward the said male, with Roxas still attached to his arm. (which was quite painful, seeing as today the desks seemed to be out on a homicidal rampage against Roxas's hips and thighs.)

The tables were set up in a peculiar way. There were three straight rows of the small rectangular tables, with two chairs per table. Meaning only two people could sit at one. Xigbar was settled at the back desk in the furthest right row, glaring at the pencil in front of him menacingly with his one good eye.

Heh.

Pirates.

Demyx ungracefully released Roxas when they reached the stoner's table. Roxas stumbled over to the table next to Xigbar's, the last one in the middle row, and plopped down into a chair with a shaky sigh.

"Hey Xiggy!" Demyx chirped, his eyes bright and his smile as shit-eating as ever. Xigbar's glare snapped from the pencil to Demyx, his eyes narrowing. The teen crossed his arms and turned his head. Axel sauntered up and slapped Xigbar on the back in greeting.

Xigbar made a strange, seizure-esque movement and jerked away from Axel. "Don't touch me grampa!" He roared angrily, one hand whipping forth to point at Demyx, "Nanna is a cheating whore! And I should cut your head off with this little doggy..." When Xigbar waved the 'doggy' (which was actually his pencil) at Demyx, the blonde deemed it an appropriate time to slide into the seat next to Xigbar.

Axel plopped ever so ungracefully into the seat beside Roxas, watching Xigbar wave his 'doggy' at Demyx with vigor.

Roxas stared at the door as students slowly trickled into the classroom. They didn't seem too concerned about getting to this class on time.

The blond instinctively perked up as he heard a familiar voice. His brother strolled into the room, sidled up to a boy with silver hair. He was giggling over something the boy had said.

Roxas' eyes widened slightly in recognition.

Oh _yeah_... Riku was in the class with them. Demyx noticed the pair and waved his arms wildly.

"Riku! Sora! Over here!" The older blonde yelled unnessecarily loudly across the still half-empty classrom, resulting in a few stares from other classmates.

Roxas twisted his head to the right, leaning back in his chair to peer past Axel and give Demyx his 'Spock Look' (which was actually just a raised eyebrow and a look of inquiry, but Roxas thought it cool to name his expressions.)

"You know Riku?" Demyx paused in his waving and glanced at Roxas.

"Of course. He's our buddy." He answered, as if Roxas should have known that all along. "_You_ know Riku?" He countered.

Roxas snorted. "Duh. He's my brother's best friend."

Demyx and Axel exchanged amused glances. Xigbar paused from his pencil-waving (which was now directed to Demyx's mohawk) and burst out laughing.

"Best _friends_….yeah, they're definitely** best** friends." Axel said, grinning. Demyx bit his lip to hold his giggles back, and so all Roxas heard was the sound of a choking animal.

"Hey guys." Riku greeted as he approached the back tables.

"Riku!" Demyx squeaked back. Riku reached behind Sora to snake his arm around the brunette's waist and pull the shorter teen up close.

The hand froze when he spotted Roxas. "Roxas! I…uh…forgot you were in this class." Riku's statement faded out into a disgruntled tone before he chuckled weakly, firmly gluing his arm to his own side.

Sora edged up beside Riku on his own.

Roxas smiled. "Hey Riku. I forgot you were in this class, too. That means we're even."

Sora grinned at his brother and glanced from Demyx to Axel. "Thanks for showing him here, guys." He said.

Demyx waved a dismissive hand. "No problem, no problem."

Riku headed over to the back table in the left row, the one beside Roxas and Axel's table, and seated himself. Sora automatically scrambled to follow Riku. It was normal. Expected, even. Wherever Riku went, Sora went.

Roxas took this time to take in his surroundings for a moment. Both he and Axel were seated between Demyx's table and Sora's table.

Xigbar shrieked when Demyx took his pencil away and tackled the blonde boy to the ground, gloved hands wrapped around Demyx's throat.

Roxas watched this with a raised eyebrow.

"Axel.." He began, catching the attention of Axel from Demyx and Xigbar's bitch-fight.

"What is it, Roxas?"

"Isn't Xigbar a senior?" There was a moment of silence as Axel took a moment to contemplate the question. The sounds of Xigbar trying to kill Demyx were merely background noise.

"Yeah- he is. Why do you ask?"

"Seniors don't need LMS, or any kind of personal fitness class, for that matter- so why's he in here?" The blonde asked. Demyx screamed _'not the hair! not the hair!_' but he was still ignored.

"When we filled out our schedule requests last year for this year, he picked LMS because every year we have to do the child project and Xigbar didn't get to name the baby when he had the class. He's hell-bent on being the one to name it this year." The redhead explained with mild interest. Their table shook when Xigbar and Demyx rolled into it.

"…."

Go figure- Xigbar was loopier than Roxas had originally assumed. As if on cue- the senior popped up next to them both and stiffly sat back down in his seat. Demyx was writhing on the ground holding his crotch, groaning about his balls.

Axel grinned at Roxas. "You'll get used to Xigbar. I promise." Roxas nodded once, if only to appease the annoyingly attractive redhead. (not that Roxas would willingly admit that Axel was, in fact, sexier than a pair of tight jeans on Sean William Scott.)

The class quieted down only minimally when the teacher stepped into the room. Demyx limped back to his seat.. Roxas had one thought as he watched their teacher go over to his desk.

'_Sideburns and dreadlocks do NOT mix._'

Mr. Xaldin apparently didn't know that.

Mr. Xaldin deposited his things on his desk and turned to the class. "Hello, and welcome to Life Management Skills- or LMS." He announced with a smile, his creepishly twinkling eyes scanning the classroom. The man's expression reminded the blonde boy of Smiling Bob from those penis commercials.

It sent an unpleasant chill down Roxas's spine.

He was suddenly very glad he was sitting at one of the back tables.

Axel must have noticed the look Roxas had. "Just don't get stuck alone in the classroom with Xaldin, and you'll be okay." He patted Roxas gently on the shoulder and tried to keep the amusement out of his voice.

It turned out to be much like last period for Roxas, except for the fact that Demyx (or Axel or Sora) kept constantly trying to talk to him. He didn't hear half of what Mr. Xaldin was saying as a result. (Then again, he didn't hear the other half of what he said due to Xigbar's outbursts concerning vengeful tires)

He was doubting he would get used to that anytime soon, contrary to what Axel said.

At the end of the period, Demyx was back to questioning Roxas about his schedule.

"What's your next period?" He looked down at Roxas with his usual grin.

"Psychology." Roxas replied, following closely behind Riku and Sora as they filed out of the classroom. He was getting used to all the questions.

Demyx deflated. "Aw. You don't have next period with me." He sighed woefully, very much like one would sigh over the loss of witnessing hot man-on-man action.

"But you have it with Axey and Xiggy and Zexy, at least." Roxas chose not to point out the similarities in Demyx's pet names for his friends.

Demyx suddenly perked up. "That means you have second lunch, right?"

"Uh…yeah, I think." Roxas shifted his bag to his other shoulder.

Demyx grinned widely, clapping his hands together in glee. "So you have lunch with all of us!" Oh Jesus. Kill him now.

The group broke off when they got to the hallway. Sora, Riku, and Demyx started off down the right end of the hall.

"Axel and Xigbar'll take you to your next period, okay?" Sora called to Roxas over his shoulder. Roxas rolled his eyes, realizing two classes ago that Axel was more of an escort than his own brother.

Sora grinned. "See you at lunch, Rox!" He turned around and joined in with a chattering Demyx as the duo rounded a corner.

Xigbar halted in mid-step, causing Roxas to bump into his back with a small 'oomph.'

The senior turned slowly to the blonde boy and stared down at him, eyes narrowed. The stare was so intense that Roxas could feel a bead of sweat trickling down the back of his neck as nervousness stirred in his gut.

Abruptly, Xigbar turned to Axel. "Hey, who's this kid?"

Axel gave Xigbar a blank look, and the long-haired teen decided to help fill him in.

"He keeps following us."

Roxas's brain died.

Hadn't he been introduced to Xigbar that morning?

"This is Sora's little brother, Roxas. And he hasn't been following us, we're taking him around." Axel elaborated after realizing that their senior companion had no recollection of their morning.

Xigbar went back to staring at Roxas. "Oh."

He turned and walked down the hall.

Axel made a motion for Roxas to follow and started after Xigbar. The blonde boy really, really wanted to cry. What had he done recently that earned him the reward of spending the rest of his miserable high-school years with a stoner, a walking wet dream, and a psycho kid with a mullet-hawk?

Abso-fuckin-lutely nothing. That's what.

Roxas trailed after the two, his shoulders slumped.

Fortunately, it didn't take as long to get to their fourth period class as it did to get to their third. After only a turn or two, they stopped at a door that read, 'Psychology, 1012.'

Xigbar grinned savagely and pretty much kicked the door open, (if rearing your foot back and bashing it in so that the handle made a sickening crack was considered kicking it in). He jumped inside enthusiastically, arms fisted out to his sides as he strutted further into the classroom.

Axel causally followed behind him. Roxas cautiously stepped over the threshold of the doorway, inspecting the now limply dangling door handle when he walked past.

Here's to hoping that their teacher would be at least halfway normal if they were teaching psychology.

The first thing Roxas noticed about their teacher was his hair. Well, not his hair specifically, which was long and brown and nothing really special, but what was **_in_** his hair.

There were beads, jewelry, feathers, and countless other things braided into the locks that hung down from under the red bandana he wore. (was that a dead bird?) There were even trinkets braided into his beard, which hung down in two individual braids on either side of his chin.

The second thing Roxas noticed was that he was drunk.

The swaggering and hiccupping wasn't so much a clue as the bottle of rum in his hand.

Roxas hurried over to Axel and Xigbar, who were sitting in the middle of the class instead of the back, for a change. They had seated themselves beside Zexion, who was already there and reading a book when they had arrived.(Roxas ignored the title of 'Super Sized', hoping it wasn't a perverted innuendo.)

"Is he…is he _drinking_?" Roxas whispered harshly as he took a seat beside Axel. The redhead nodded, giving Roxas one of those _'well... the Nazi republic just took the president hostage- what can ya do?_' types of expressions.

"Yeah. He's one of the cool teachers, though, so don't worry about that."

Roxas wanted to clutch at his desk, whip his head back, and crack it against the pleasantly hard surface of his work area.

He was pretty damn sure that you could get your teaching license revoked if you drank on the job.

...Then again, he was also sure that getting high stunted your academic ability quite effectively.

Roxas**_ really_** hated public schools.

The teacher wobbled to the front of the room, surveying all the students. If Roxas wasn't ninety eight percent sure that they were at least a good hundred miles from any type of watery arena, he'd say the man had sea legs.

"Well, class…"

He trailed off when a girl near the front raised her hand. There was an akward silence as he wavered, both vocally and physically, one eyebrow raised and his gaze directed at the girl. It seemed he was considering whether she was really his student, or actually a skeleton being put under an aztec curse.

She obviously wasn't familiar with Oblivion High's school system when she spoke. "Um, Mr. Sparrow-"

"**Captain.** Captain Sparrow." He corrected her, pointing in the general direction of the door. He had a British accent like Commodore Norrington, except it was more loose and unrefined, and a bit drunk, if Roxas had any say in it.

She continued nervously. "Er, should you be drinking right now? I mean, you're teaching a class and all."

Captain Sparrow glanced down at the bottle of rum in his hand. His eyebrows dissapeared into his bandanna, like he was noticing it for the first time. "You're quite right, love." He rumbled, "Class time. It's empty, anyway." He turned to his desk and stuffed the empty rum bottle in one of the drawers, which was filled with similar looking bottles, by the sound of glasses clinking together.

He grabbed a stack of papers off his desk and turned back to the students.

"Now, class," He restarted, holding the stack up. "These are…um…um…." He eyeballed the stack in his hand.

"Papers." A senior, Will Turner, piped up with disinterest, his chin resting on the upturned palm of his hand. Their teacher's face lit up with recognition and he wiggled the stack around cheerily.

"Right! Papers." Jack continued. "There's information that you need to fill out on these….er…" The teacher paused again.

"Papers, Jack. Papers." Apparently, Will was used to this routine.

"Papers! Right! You need to fill out these papers." Jack lifted one hand from the stack and waggled his index finger in the general direction of the class.

Roxas stared in disbelief, feeling as if Michaelangalo had just floated down from the heavens to bitch-slap him with a soup ladle.

He was going to be taught psychology by a drunkard who couldn't remember what paper was. If he hadn't been sure about the deep downward spiral of his education before, he was now.

He wasn't any more reassured by the time the lunch bell rang. Captain Jack had repeatedly gotten off topic when he was speaking and had to have Will remind him of countless words.

"Is he really a teacher?" Roxas piped up once they had all exited the classroom and were heading to the cafeteria.

"Yeah. Believe it or not." Axel said airily, ducking to avoid Xigbar's spastic arm.

"Really? Because I thought he was a hobo who had wandered in off the streets." He really wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.

Roxas jerked to a stop when Xigbar swung around to face him, looking particurlarly scandalized. "A hobo? He is no mere hobo! He's a bold, daring hobo! I have yet to meet another man who's brave enough to jump into the asshole of the Kraken!" He boomed, shooting a finger into the air.

Needless to say, Roxas had been severely discouraged from doing drugs ever since he met Xigbar. He slipped around the senior and hurried to catch up with Axel, who'd wandered off after Zexion. (Zexion didn't wait for anyone. Not even Jesus.)

Upon entering the lunch room, Roxas's ears were bombarded with the voices of a good quarter of the school's population. He glanced around, attempting to find a place to sit amongst all the bustle. He jerked around when someone placed a hand on his back and looked up at Axel. The redhead gave him a smirk and pushed him forward, guiding him through the tables. He saw Demyx to his right, and Xigbar and the rest of them all following.

"No worries, McShrimpie. You get to sit with us." Demyx said cheerily, placing a hand on his shoulder. Roxas bristled at the stab to his height, but felt relief trickle into his stomach at having ensured a place to sit. God, he hated lunch.

Roxas was directed to the table where Marluxia, Saix, and Larxene were seated. The blond was squeezed onto the bench in between Demyx and Axel, and Xigbar and Zexion seated themselves on the opposite side of the table. Greetings were exchanged between the aforementioned, then all fell silent as Xigbar once again started relaying a wildly exaggerated tale that would make perfect sense to someone who had just snorted some _really_ good cocaine.

To the rest of the world, it was lost. ((much like this story))

Larxene turned and peered around Axel to stare at Roxas with a bored look on her face. "So kid, how do you like this shit-hole so far?" She asked lightly, placing her chin onto the palm of her hand and watching the blonde boy's reaction.

"It's…uh…really, _really_ different from what I'm used to…" Roxas trailed off slowly, at a loss for a way in which he could get his point across that this school was whackier than PeeWee's Playhouse at two in the morning, without making it too obvious.

Demyx leaned over inquiringly. "Really? What school did you go to before this?"

Roxas scratched the back of his head. "Erm… Twilight Academy…" He mumbled. Most of the table's occupants raised their eyebrows, and Demyx's eyes bugged out.

"_Twilight_ _Academy!_" He shrieked.. "Dude! Only like, freakin' geniu-" Was all he was able to squawk out before he was smacked in the back of the head by Axel.

Roxas was about to slip down in his seat, but was stopped by the cheerful greeting of Sora as said brunette and Riku made their way over to the table, arms stacked with various food items. Sora seated himself beside Zexion and grinned at his brother.

"Hey Roxas! I got you some chips!" He announced, tossing a bag at Roxas. The blond caught it with a muttered _'Thanks.'_

While Sora and Riku distributed the food to it's various owners, Axel leaned into Roxas to reach into his side pocket to pull forth a dollar. He righted himself, never noticing the pink tint to his companion's cheeks.

"Hey Sora," He said, waving the dollar around. "Go buy me a coke." He tossed it to Sora, who caught it with a chirp of _'Okay!'_ The brunette stood and raced off to the drink machines, (which were inconveniently placed on the other end of the school) Riku right behind him. Much like how Sora always went where Riku went, Riku always went where Sora went.

"Hey! Roxas!" Hayner's voice caught the blonde's attention and he turned his head, glancing over Axel's shoulder to see his old friend making his way towards the group, Pence in tow. Axel and Demyx paused when Roxas's name was called, and soon the attention of eight was given to the newcomers.

A huge grin broke out on Roxas' face as he greeted Hayner and Pence. "Guys!" He exclaimed, hi-fiving both of them.('cause he's a fag like that) He had been hoping to see his old friends since he'd arrived.

"Roxas, you can come sit with us!" Hayner said, grabbing his arm and pulling him away from Demyx and Axel. Roxas was tugged (not quite reluctantly enough for Axel's tastes) away from the group as Hayner said none too quietly into his ear – "Besides, it's better not to hang out with **_those_** kinds of people."

Demyx whipped around to Axel with a patronizing glare. "You're one of _those_ kinds of people? And you never told me?" He gasped, a look of mock-horor and disgust on his childish features.

Axel glared back. "Me? _You're _one of **those** kinds of people!" The taller teen retaliated, giving Demyx's shoulder a small shove.

Demyx pushed back. "Me? Like hell I am! **_You_** are!" That started the all-out bickering fest between the duo. Hayner led Roxas away from the scene with a sigh, Pence beside them.

"See what I mean?" Hayner said, gesticulating towards the squabbling boys with his left hand.

The sounds of quarreling grew fainter, and Roxas glanced over his shoulder. It was at that moment that Demyx shouted, and quite loudly, "Well, _THOSE_ kinds of people are **pig fuckers**!" while attempting to whack Axel with a soda bottle. Pence snickered, but stopped when Hayner shot him a look.

The trio stopped at an empty table with Hayner and Pence's bags and books already saving their spot.

"Where's Olette?" Roxas asked as they sat down, choosing to sit across from Hayner and Pence, his back to where Axel and the others were at on the other side of the lunch room.

"She had the lunch before this." Pence answered, picking up his previously discarded slice of pizza, as noted by the large bite already taken out of it.

"Oh…That's too bad." Roxas murmured, saddened marginally at this fact. He was hoping that their little group could have had some semblance of what it was in middle school.

"So why're you hanging out with the goths, anyway?" Hayner asked, pulling a sandwich out of his paper bag. Roxas opened his own bag of chips that he'd managed to hold on to throughout the entire ordeal.

"Oh, they're Sora's friends. He introduced me this morning, and I have a lot of classes with them, so I've kinda been getting dragged around with them all day." He elaborated, popping a chip into his mouth.

Hayner nodded slowly, absorbing the information in stride. "I still don't get why your brother even socializes with them." He muttered after a while, picking up his sandwich. Roxas reached for another chip, but froze. The barest wave of air had just brushed past his neck, and it sent a peculiar chill down his spine. His gaze snapped over to the side, and sure enough, Demyx was standing there, his usual grin plastered on his face.

Hayner and Pence followed Roxas's stare.

Hayner's eyes narrowed. "What do you want?" He asked, not bothering to keeping the hostility out of his voice.

Demyx's grin didn't waver.

He reached out and plucked Hayner's sandwich from the boy's hands before any of them had time to react. "Hey!" Hayner cried out angrily, shooting up from his seat.

"Have you ever heard of a Wish sandwich?" Demyx asked, waving the stolen piece of food in front of the shorter boy. It was then that Roxas wondered what the mohawked boy was up to.

Hayner glared. "Give me my fuckin' sandwich back." He growled angrily, making a grab for it, which was easily evaded by the older teen.

Demyx's grin widened to psychotic proportions. "A Wish is a kind of a sandwich where you have you have two slices of bread-" He peeled the sandwich apart and watched the contents fall to the ground.

"What the hell!" Hayner shrieked, shooting his arms out to attempt and save his falling food. (he didn't.)

Demyx slapped the pieces of bread back together. "And you…_wish_ you had some meat! Bowbowbow!" He sang out, tossing the bread onto the table and dancing away before Hayner decided to punch him.

"What's your problem, you asshole!" Hayner roared at the blonde's retreating back, clenching his fists.

Before he even fully settled down into his seat once more, Demyx was back again, and Hayner looked like he was about ready to lay the smack down on the bastard.

Demyx didn't speak, but instead pulled out a biscuit. From where, Roxas didn't really want to know.

"The other day I had a ricochet biscuit." Demyx began, pulling the biscuit into two halves. "A ricochet biscuit is the kind of biscuit that's supposed to bounce back off the wall into your mouth. If it don't bounce back…" Demyx scooted close to the table and chuckled in an eerie, high-pitched voice.

"You go hungry! Bowbowbow!" He slapped each of the biscuits halves over Hayner's eyes, grabbed Roxas' wrist, and ran like hell, dragging our poor main character along for the ride.

The biscuit pieces fell from Hayner's face and onto the table. He stared at the spot where Roxas had been previously sitting, then shifted his gaze to where Demyx no longer was.

"…What the hell just happened?"

"…Hayner…I think you just got owned." Pence said, staring at the empty space in relatively the same fashion as his friend.

---------------

Demyx shot right out of the cafeteria and kept running until they came to a set of double doors, smacking through them with enough force to tip over a sleeping cow. Roxas shielded his face with his free hand as he was assaulted by a mass plethora of sunshine.

"Demyx…what are you doing?" He asked as he was led down a set of concrete stairs. Demyx turned his head to look at Roxas and smiled.

"I was saving you from that meanie. Besides, it's more fun to eat outside."

Roxas glanced around and caught sight of small clusters of students sitting on the grass or perched on benches, eating and talking. The blond was pulled over to a huge tree, where the rest of the group, minus Riku and Sora, were lazing in the shade.

Roxas blinked, slowly.

Okay….weren't they all just in the lunch room?

The group all looked up as the two blondes approached. "Rescued from the grip of Satan, huh?" Marluxia commented. Axel cracked a grin.

"That _was_ pretty damn funny." He admitted. The others voiced their agreement.

Demyx beamed proudly at the praise, absorbing the moment into his ever so short memory span.

Roxas plopped down on the ground with a weary sigh. He was seriously getting too old for this, and it was only his first day.

He turned his head to spot a miffed Sora stalking over to them, Riku trailing behind. "Thanks for telling us you were moving outside, guys!" He grumbled, chucking a coke bottle at Axel. The redhead didn't have enough reaction time to catch it before it smashed into his face and he let out a howl of pain, tumbling backwards onto the grass and clutching his nose.

Larxene started cracking up.

Sora plunked down next to Roxas in a huff. The exact millisecond Sora's bum hit the ground, a shrill bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.

Riku, who didn't even get the chance to sit down, cursed. A few of the others cursed in agreement with the silver-haired boy as they reluctantly stood from their shady spots on the grass. The group filed back into the school building, with Demyx doing an odd little jig and softly chanting 'Fifth period' over and over.

Roxas watched the display with bewilderment.

"What's so special about fifth period?"

Demyx halted and wheeled around to face him. "History, duh!" Of course, this was the most obvious answer in the world, and Roxas should be burned at the stake for not knowing it. (here is where we point out that sarcasm can not, in fact, be heard over the internet.)

Roxas froze, a feeling of dread washing into his gut as realization dawned forebodingly upon him. "You have history next period?"

Demyx nodded wildly. "Yep! World history! Me and Axel and Zexy and Larxene and Saix and Marxy-" He cut himself off from the look on Roxas' face.

"What do _you_ have next period?" Demyx's grin turned leering.

Roxas gulped. "World…history." He whispered with a solemn finality. Demyx squealed loudly and pulled him into another crushing hug, ignoring the grunt that came from Roxas when his nose smacked into Demyx's chest.

"Yay! You're gonna **_love_** it!" He said gleefully before Roxas was, once again, saved from being squeezed to death by Axel.

"C'mon, we've gotta go get our stuff." The redhead told him, ignoring Demyx's injured look as the group departed down different hallways.

Xigbar was nowhere to be seen, but Roxas didn't concern himself terribly with this fact. They returned to the psychology room to get their book-bags, where Captain Jack was, shockingly, sitting at his desk drinking rum. Roxas shook his head and muttered lowly to himself about pirates and alchoholics anonymous as they left the classroom.

Roxas followed closely behind Axel down the halls. Presuming Demyx was right (Roxas would later learn that this was a very bad thing to do) then he had fifth period with most of the group members. Roxas wasn't really looking forward to it. He could barely hold onto his sanity when he had three of them in the same class, let alone _six_ of them.

Roxas snapped out of his reverie when he crashed into Axel's back. He jerked away with a blush. He'd blushed more times today than he had possibly in his entire life.

He didn't like it.

Axel smirked at Roxas's flustered state. "We're here." He said, gesturing to the door in front of them. It read: ' History, 503.'

Roxas was suddenly tackled from the side and he shrieked. (hell, it's not every day you get mauled like a frikin teen icon).

He already knew who it was. "It took you guys long enough! I've been waiting for like, ten minutes!" Demyx complained, leaning over Roxas' shoulder. Axel snorted and headed for the classroom.

"We just saw you two minutes ago, Demyx." Were his parting words as he dissapeared into the room with a slight wave of hand.

"Oh…" Demyx hurried after the redhead, tugging Roxas with him. Right before they entered the door, Demyx turned to Roxas with a wide grin. "The history teacher's fucking _awesome_." He said, pulling them inside.

Roxas slowly figured out why the teacher was so awesome, or why the 'goths' thought so, at least. Demyx pulled Roxas along behind him, and for once the blond was grateful. He couldn't see a damn thing. The ceiling lights were switched off, and the windows were covered with curtains. The only source of illumination came from the few large black-lights hanging at various places all over the classroom.

Roxas's eyes adjusted to the strange lighting and he spotted Marluxia, Larxene, and Zexion gathered in a back corner of the room, with Axel making his way over to them.

They got to their seats as soon as the bell rang and Roxas surveyed their group with a raised eyebrow. "Uh…isn't Saix in this class?"

They nodded. "Your point…?" Marluxia droned, giving Roxas a blank look.

"Well, he's gonna be late." Roxas pointed out. Which was true. The bell had just rung. Though with the looks he was getting, apparently he was a fucktard.

Axel waved a dismissive hand. "It's okay. Mr. Vincent doesn't believe in attendance. You can be as late as you want to this class."

"Oh."

Roxas turned slowly and swept his gaze across the room. "Why is it so dark in here?" He asked readily. Oblivion High was a strange, strange place. Roxas was only just beginning to really understand this fact.

"Mr. Vincent doesn't believe in sunlight either!" Demyx piped up cheerily. Oh. Of course. Why didn't Roxas think of that?

The last couple of students slipped into the room, and Saix headed over to the corner they had whored over and claimed territory to. He appeared to have absolutely no trouble maneuvering around in the poor lighting.

Showoff.

Once everyone was seated and quiet, the teacher- Mr. Vincent, as Axel and Demyx called him (Mr. Valentine on Roxas' schedule) stood and swiftly glided to the front of the room. And when we say glided, we mean it.

Roxas didn't have much trouble making him out in the black-light, if only because of what he was wearing. That red cloak stood out against the light's illumination, and the identically red headband he wore contrasted with his long, dark hair. He regarded the class silently.

Roxas learned quickly that if you wanted to get down information from Mr. Vincent, you had to get it down fast because he said things quietly and only said them once. Roxas was glad that Mr. Vincent wasn't teaching anything today.

Everyone else in the group, on the other hand, was having a grand old time. They actually paid attention to Mr. Vincent. He was the only teacher Roxas had seen Demyx _or_ Axel give any kind of respect to the whole day.

Roxas was met with disappointed groans when the bell rang. The little group reluctantly gathered their things and shuffled out of the classroom behind the other students, Demyx gripping onto Roxas' shirt sleeve.

When Saix and Larxene broke off into different directions down the hallway, Demyx turned to Roxas. "What's your next period?" Came the expected question. Roxas squinted an eye, attempting to remember.

. "…Band, I think." He said ever so slowly, not intentionally trying to draw out the suspense.

There was a silence.

A long silence.

A _very_ long silence.

"Oh jesus." Axel, Zexion, and Marluxia muttered simultaneously, the latter two slinking off down the hall quickly and very ninja-like.

A split second later, Roxas figured out why. The blonde was tackled by a squealing Demyx in a hug that was most likely detrimental to his health.

"Ohmigod- you're in **_band_**!" The spiky-haired teen babbled enthusiastically. "You don't have it with me, but homigod you're in **band**!" Roxas wasn't sure Demyx was even concerned with breathing at this point.

"What do you play!" Eagerness was oozing from Demyx as he stared at Roxas. The said blond looked a bit taken aback by the other's outburst.

"Uh…Alto sax…but-" Roxas was cut off by another debilitating squeeze.

"Homigod you're a woodwind like me! Well, technically not _exactly_ like me cause I play flute but homigod you're in BAND andyouplayawoodwind!" Even without breathing between sentences, Demyx was able to fling Roxas back in forth, like this morning, but with much more vigor.

Demyx continued to jabber. "I wouldtotallytakeyoutothebandroom but I have to go the opposite way and-" Demyx cut himself off and pulled away from Roxas.

"And _ohshit_ I'm gonnabelate to Norrington's classbye!" He spun around and haphazardly shot down the hall behind him. Roxas stood there, looking quite frazzled.

"…What just happened?"

Axel let out a hearty laugh. "You just got music-molested by Demyx. He's the biggest music whore you'll ever meet." The redhead grinned and put a hand on Roxas' shoulder, turning and guiding them down the hall.

"I'll show you where the band room is. It's on the way to my next class."

Roxas willingly let himself be led down the halls, too wiped to care. This day was really taking a toll on him. Axel stopped them in front of a glass-windowed door that was marked 'Band Room' in big, black, doomy letters.

"Here ya go." Axel patted Roxas on the back and continued down the hall. He suddenly stopped and turned.

"What do you have next period?" He asked, almost as an afterthought. Roxas struggled to remember.

"Um…Anatomy and Physiology Honors."

Axel whistled. "Damn…well, Zexion has the same class. I'll send him to pick you up, okay?"

Roxas frowned. "..Zexion?" He asked, almost reluctantly. It wasn't that he didn't like Zexion, per-se, he just hadn't even talked to him since they were introduced.

At all.

"Would you rather have Xigbar show you?" Axel retorted. Roxas quickly shook his head, holding his hands up and waving them to solidify his decision.

"No- No. Zexion's fine." He assured.

Axel grinned, like he'd been expecting that. He turned and continued to his own destination. "See ya." He threw over his shoulder, disappearing around a corner.

Roxas stared after the redhead, even though he was no longer able to see him. "…See ya." He whispered back.

The piercing ring of the sixth period bell jolted Roxas out of his thoughts, and he quickly scrambled through the band room's door.

Once inside, Roxas was surprised to find that the room was set up like most other band rooms he'd ever been in. Three rows of black chairs with a music stand in front of each of them. The first row formed a semi-circle around the conductor's stand at the front of the classroom, the second row formed a semi-circle around the first circle, and so on.

Okay. Normal room. So far so good.

Most kids were already in their seats, so Roxas slipped into a chair on the end of the second row. It was where he was most likely going to be put, anyway. The blonde sat back with a sigh, his eyes roaming over the classroom.

Some students were leaning over in their seats to chatter with one another, while others just sat quietly, like Roxas. No sign of a teacher, though. Oh well. One was bound to show up any second.

Five minutes later, there wasn't a remotely teacher-like figure to be seen. Roxas was getting bored sitting there, trying to drown out the sounds of the three girls in front of him going on and on about some hot guy-

The classroom door swung open with a mighty burst of air, and booming music filled the room.

Everyone, including Roxas, jumped and snapped their gazes to the front of the room, or were glancing around the room, trying to decipher where the music was coming from. Roxas didn't really care where it was coming from, he just knew it was creepy. It currently surrounded him with dramatic chanting in Latin that he couldn't understand.

Duh. He couldn't speak Latin. The only thing he could make out was something like:

'_Estuans interius. Ira vehementi._ _Sephiroth! Sephiroth!'_

And even then, he didn't know what a Sephiroth was. But it sounded familiar…So familiar…

A shadow-shrouded figure swept into the room, and Roxas heard some of the girls gasp and squeal. (the second girl in the third row passed out with a loud thud as she hit the ground with her over-sized forehead)

This man who had just entered had long, flowing hair just as silver as Riku's, and an aura of cold arrogance that rolled off him in waves. And just as abruptly as it had started, the music switched off, leaving students still baffled.

The man almost glided up to the director's stand in the front of the room, placing his hands on it and regarding the students with a cool intensity. "Hello, class. I'm the band director, Mr. Sephiroth."

Well, that cleared up what a Sephiroth was. Apparently, it was their band teacher. Roxas still didn't know why the name sounded so freaking _familiar_, though. Mr. Sephiroth hadn't been on his schedule, and he was pretty sure nobody had mentioned him.

The door banged open once again, and another guy stumbled through, carrying a stack of papers. Roxas guessed this guy was younger than Mr. Sephiroth, going by looks. He had medium length, dark spiked hair that looked like it hadn't been brushed today. Or yesterday, or ever, for that matter.

The man grinned as he strode over to a table behind Sephiroth to dump the papers on, his chocolate brown eyes glinting with mischievousness that Roxas had seen many times in Sora, and more recently, Demyx.

Sephiroth hardly acknowledged the new presence. "And this is my directing assistant, Mr. Zack." He motioned to the man behind him. Zack turned to the class and waved with a good-natured _"Hey!"_

The rest of the period was spent filling out forms, forms, and more forms. Roxas focused intently on his papers, a frigid aura weighing him down the entire time. He didn't want to look up, because every time he glanced at Mr. Sephiroth, a shiver ran down his spine.

Maybe it was because every time he looked at his teacher, Mr. Sephiroth was staring back at him with a calculating gaze. Maybe it was just seeing the man. Whatever it was, it gave Roxas the chills.

Mr. Sephiroth definitely gave off a creepy vibe, but it was…different somehow. He just couldn't put his finger on it. It freaked him out more than regular creepy vibes, for sure. Roxas was out the door almost as soon as the bell rang, Sephiroth's eyes following him the whole time.

Disturbing.

It made him glad he was sitting near the door.

Just like Axel had promised, Zexion was waiting outside the band room for Roxas, looking none-too-happy. Then again, Zexion hadn't looked happy the entire time Roxas had known him, which was probably a total of six hours.

Zexion spotted him and motioned to him. Roxas quickly shuffled to the other side of the hall, and Zexion started walking. "The science room's not very far from here." He told the blonde quietly. Roxas blinked. It was the first time he'd heard Zexion speak.

Unfortunately, that was all Zexion said, conveniently forgetting to mention to Roxas what he should expect from their next class.

Roxas found out, all right. Their teacher was a scary man named Mr. Vexen, another teacher who Sora's group of friends seemed to have no respect for. Well, that Xigbar had no respect for. You couldn't tell with Zexion.

Roxas bet fifty bucks that even if Demyx were to start dry-humping Zexion that the kid would still have a poker-face.

Another class of filling out forms, only this time Roxas had the added challenge of ducking every ten seconds to avoid Xigbar's spontaneous arm-swinging fits.

He had to remember not to sit next to the stoner again.

Ever.

Expectedly, relief flooded through Roxas when the bell rang, signaling the end of the day.

Roxas got another flying tackle-hug from Sora out in the hall, only this time they didn't fall down, thankfully. Sora expertly maneuvered them through the mass of students all trying to get the hell out of the building, until they were at the front doors again.

His brother tugged him along with the throng of students, leading Roxas around to one of the side parking lots of the school. He spotted Cloud's car immediately. It was one of the first ones there.

Roxas could have sobbed with relief as he all but ran over to the vehicle with his brother and slipped into the backseat, slumping against the window with an exhausted sigh. He was drained. Completely and utterly drained.

Sora hopped into the backseat beside Roxas and turned to his younger brother with a wide grin. "How was your first day, Rox?" He questioned cheerily.

…..

If he'd had the energy, Roxas would have punched his brother right in that retarded, smiling face of his.

--------

**Random Kyuubi:** We're sorry that this wasn't out sooner! But you see, I'm the only one who's really been writing this chapter, so it took longer than it would have if both PR and I had been writing. Plus, this bitch is 30 pages long. I think that suffices as an apology.

That, and our brains died on this thing about.. oh, say eighteen times.

To quote SelphieBunny, everyone has to do at least one KH high school AU fic. It's basically required. : D

And to The Boomerang, Random Kyuubi officially loves you. -heart-

**Psycho Rooster:** And as a final note- people not reviewing is detremental to our health. Make sure to tell us the things you liked and didn't like!


	3. Atramentous

**Carmine Complex**

**_The BirdFox Hybrid Productions_**

**Disclaimer**: On the off chance we owned it, PR would be in it to molest Demyx every five fuckin' minutes... and apparently now Xemnas too... freak...

(Psycho Rooster takes offense to that last comment. Xemnas needs cuddles.)

**Final note: click this to hear the song mentioned in the story**

** http // www . filelodge . com / files / room 17 / 445373 / scotty . mp3**

**-----------------**

**atramentous; **of or pertaining to ink; inky; black

**----------------**

**I DON'T WANNA WAIT. FOR OUR LIVES TO BE OVER-**

Roxas's arm snapped out from under the comforter and he punched his alarm clock right off of the nightstand before he rolled back over, curling up into his quilt.

The alarm clock gave a small groan like a diseased animal before going silent.

"Roxas! Wake up!" Sora's voice drifted through his closed door and Roxas sleepily grinned to himself for locking it the night before. He began to drift off into dreamland, the sounds of a jiggling doorknob serenading him back to sleep. It was the Friday of the second week into school, and Roxas had deemed it high-time to become lazy once more.

The jiggling stopped and Roxas breathed in deeply, inhaling the smell of his comforter. He was currently in the land of snuggles, as his pillow began to take the shape of a miniature Axel in Roxas's mind. Roxas rubbed his face against the pillow, a content smile pasted onto his face.

"Roxas, if you don't get up and unlock the door, I'm going to take the doorknob OFF." Cloud was the one who spoke this time, his voice was deeper and more mature than Sora's, given that he was twenty-four and far past those stages of puberty. Roxas let out a tired groan and pulled the covers up to his cheeks, rubbing his face into his pillow once more.

_Mhhh- Axel, your face is so squishy and baby soft._

Roxas was asleep in no time, and was oblivious to the fact that Cloud had begun unscrewing his doorknob with a handheld screwdriver on the other side.

Until a cold hand slipped under the covers, grabbed his ankle, and pulled.

Roxas yelped as he was wrenched quite roughly out of the bed, his body being hit with a blast of cold air-conditioning. A sharp pain resonated from where his back and head had oh-so-ungracefully hit the ground and he groggily looked up to see Cloud standing over him, still holding his ankle high in the air. Roxas squirmed, muttering a half-audible "gerrof me." before Cloud released his ankle.

"I'm leaving today. You and Sora will have to take the bus because I promised Leon I'd be back home before two and it's a five hour car drive back. I figured you'd at least be compassionate enough to want to see me for more than five minutes today before school started." Even though Cloud would never show it, Roxas knew he'd be pissed if the blonde boy skipped out on eating breakfast with his brother before he left.

Cloud only visited on holidays. And when 'holidays' was said, it was meant. Cloud visited on every holiday. Even Arbor Day. And the fact that he'd actually left Leon back home was significance enough. Cloud never left Leon anywhere, the older man was always with Roxas's brother when Cloud drove down from Radiant Garden to visit them all. "Awright. I'm up." Roxas grumbled, slowly pulling himself to his feet and shooting a brief glance at the clock.

6:45 twinkled back at him merrily.

"Cloud?" Roxas began, slowly turning to look at his older brother, seeing the smirk on the man's face, even in the dark room that was only lit from the hallway.

"School doesn't start until eight thirty." He stated.

Cloud's grin widened to mocking proportions. "I know."

"So why am I up almost a whole hour early?" Roxas no longer wondered how his alarm could have gone off at six forty instead of seven thirty as per usual.

"It might have been because I set it to do that yesterday while you were at school." Cloud replied.

Damn.

Roxas made a mental note to lock his door during the daytime too.

Cloud smirked at Roxas before turning and leaving the room with the parting words of "don't forget to feed your gerbil!"  
-----

After slowly picking out his outfit for the day (Something Roxas didn't do that often.) Our favorite blonde protagonist bounded down the stairs, and then promply tripped over the obnoxious white plastic ball that his gerbil had somehow steered down the stairs to hide until the opportune tripping-Roxas moment.

Roxas knew that gerbil was out for vengance ever since the tail incident, he just knew it

Upon entering the kitchen, Roxas was slapped in the face with the smell of eggs, coffee, and burrito. The last scent belonged to Sora's disturbing breakfast fetish.

"God- ugh, Sora, can't you at least eat a breakfast burrito? I mean, doesn't Riku get irritated when you talk to him with bean breath or something?" Roxas grumbled, taking his seat and reaching for the box of cheerios to fill his pre-placed bowl with.

He thanked Cloud for little favors.

Sora shrugged, taking another bite of his burrito before gulping down some of his milk.

It was Cloud who broke the silence.

"So- Roxas, how was school yesterday?" Well if that wasn't the gayest most systematic question Cloud had ever asked in his life.

"We changed out yesterday in LMS- it was kind of annoying since Demyx kept trying to pull down everyone's pants right after we put them on." Well, it was true- the psycho had whipped Roxas's pants down a good three times before he had a chance to kick the bastard in the face.

Cloud raised an eyebrow and Sora let out a bark of laughter.

"I didn't hear you complaining, considering how much you stared at Axel's ass each time he bent down to pull his pants back up." The evil glint in his brother's eyes was back again- giving Roxas the urge to gouge them out with his spoon- which he might have, had he not been preoccupied with turning bright red and hissing at Sora to shut the fuck up.

Sora released a small sigh, waving his burrito about and causing a bean to smack Roxas in the cheek. Roxas wiped it off with only mild disgust.

"Well- it wasn't like Axel didn't stare right back at yours either- I think he was trying to X-Ray your boxers or somethin'..." As he spoke, Roxas became the color of said pervert's hair, embarassment and a sliver of glee dancing an irish jig on his head. Cloud paused in mid-sip of his coffee, eyebrows shooting up into his hairline and regarding both boys cooly. A moment of silence passed before Cloud continued drinking.

Roxas finished his cereal and bounded back upstairs and into his room to wallow in self-pity for the next fifteen minutes.

He detoured, instead continuing down the hall and into Sora's room to find something to sabotage as an act of revenge.

His eyes caught sight of Sora's GameStation 2, and he grinned. Sora was obsessed with playing Castle Soul- and swooned over the protagonist's bishounen best friend, Kiru. He spotted the game's cover and cackled evilly, snatching it up and slinking back into his room to find a magic marker.

----

"_Roxas_**! _Why the fuck does Aros have a giant penis!?_"** Sora screeched exactly thirty minutes later, the sound of feet thundering to Roxas's door as the enraged brunette burst into his little brother's room.

Roxas- who had been scribbling in his notebook, tried not to burst into another round of evil laughter as he turned as calmly as he could to face Sora.

"What are you talking about?"

Sora smacked Roxas in the face with the game cover. "Aros! He's sporting a masssive erection and has googly eyes drawn to look at Kiru! You bitch! This game was forty dollars! You are scandalizing true love by defiling it through the satanism of a black sharpie!" Roxas's eyes clenched shut as the small box was smeared across his face before it slapped him to accentuate the last two words.

Carnage most likely would have broken out if it weren't for Cloud bellowing at the two to get the fuck downstairs before their sorry asses missed the bus. Sora shot Roxas a look that declared VENGANCE, and stormed off to retrieve his backpack.

Roxas's lip twitched in the slightest of evil grins as he grabbed his own backpack and left his room, vaguely taking note of the fact that his doorknob had yet to be returned.

------------

Upon his arrival to the front of the Trigonometry room, Roxas was greeted by Marluxia, who ruffled his hair in greeting. (and had his hand slapped away by said blonde boy in return) Zexion, Saix, and Larxene were seated on the ground, leaning up against the walls. Xigbar was lying spread eagle in the center of the hallway, staring at his outstretched hand blankly. Axel and Demyx were nowhere in sight.

"Axel's here, just not here, so he'll be to class on time, no worries." Marluxia informed, reaching to mess with Roxas's hair again. Roxas dodged under the hand and moved to take refuge by Xigbar.

Xigbar stared at him, his eye dialated and his right arm still held straight out in the air. Roxas decided that Zexion was looking quite friendly at the moment.

Roxas took a seat on the free side of the violet-haired teen, peering over his shoulder to catch sight of some of the text in his companion's newest reading material.

"What are you reading?" He asked softly, Zexion's eyes flickered up to him for a second before looking back down at the book.

"Surgeon General's Warning."

Roxas paused, and then fidgeted. "Sounds interesting." Okay, so maybe it sounded a bit more morbid than it did interesting, but people always did say not to judge a book by it's cover. Zexion lifted a thumb, pressing it to his tongue and reaching down to flip the page again.

"I like it. It makes me smile."

Roxas scrunched his eyebrows together and used the majority of his free will not to scoot away from Zexion. He instead, peered over Zexion's slighly broad shoulder once more, eyes skimming the text and realizing that the story seemed to revolve around two neighboring families. His eyes squinted after a moment, reading one of the lines over again before they grew large and he spoke up.

"Is this a.. a gay romance story?" Zexion's shoulders went taut and he slowly turned to Roxas. The blonde boy hadn't meant to give any offence, but the way Zexion's eyes were wary, he realized that maybe he shouldn't have spoken out.

"I don't see why the sexuality of the characters in the book should have any affect on the quality of the book or whether or not the novel itself is pleasant to read. Why does it matter to you? Have you a thing against homosexuals?" His voice was low, daring Roxas to agree with his last sentence. Roxas, on the other hand, would have found the situation ironically amusing if it weren't for the heated glare he was recieving from both Marluxia and Saix. Xigbar was far too out of it to even tune into the conversation and Larxene was stabbing her notebook with a pencil.

Roxas's gaze shifted to where his legs were stretched out in front of him, fingers intertwined lazily.

"Kinda hard to be against them when you're one of them." He muttered after realizing that his confession would bring no judgement from anyone in the group. Marluxia nearly squealed, his teeth displayed in a shit-eating grin.

"Axel's gonna be so happy to-"

Saix flew from his sitting position and tackled Marluxia sideways, knocking them both completely to the ground, one hand clasped over the rosy-haired boy's mouth. He'd caught sight of Axel down the hall, and had rightfully shut Marluxia up before anything blackmailey could slip forth.

"I'm gonna be happy to what?" Axel entered Roxas's vision with his ever-present cocky smirk, his backpack slung over his left shoulder. Marluxia pushed Saix away and fixed his hair, his plethora of bracelets jingling as per-usual. The bell rang before he could even open his mouth to explain the situation.

Roxas had never noticed Zexion get up to leave- the older teen had been silent and inconspicuous in the act. Larxene was gone too, having apparently followed the boy. Marluxia shrieked a death threat to the two teens who were no longer present as he snatched up his pink bookbag and rocketed down the hall, running into people and causing a riot in his wake. People brushed past Axel and Roxas, and Saix dragged Xigbar into the class.

Axel raised an eyebrow at Roxas, a hint of a smirk on his lips as he extended his elbow to the boy.

"Shall we?"

"I'm not skipping into class with you." Roxas replied flatly. Even if it was true that he was about as straight as a circle, there was a limit to how gay he would voluntarily be. Roxas entered the classroom by himself with Axel's laughter following behind him. They took their seats with relative calm and Roxas shot a curious glance to Demyx's empty chair before looking back at Axel, who'd grown solemn.

"Hey Axel- Where's Demyx at?" The late bell rang shrilly and Axel gave Roxa s a silent half-hearted shrug, his arms crossed. If Roxas wasn't suddenly pre-occupied with their psychotic music-loving whore of a friend's absence, he'd have given into the urge to reach over and hug Axel's head.

"Fuck!" Xigbar screeched, causing a few students to jump in their seats. The golden-eyed teen smacked his forehead and turned to Saix. "I forgot to tie the swingset to the roof!"

Saix replied to Xigbar's exclamation with a raised eyebrow. Xigbar sighed and crossed his arms, looking back at the front of the class.

Axel tilted his chair onto it's back legs, rocking gently. It was a habit that Roxas has seen the redhead do only on two occasions. The first was when they'd recieved the results of their first test in the class, and Axel had begun rocking his chair whilst awaiting for his own test to be placed in front of him. The second time was now.

Xemnas called out to the class to settle down as he began calling out the names listed on his attendance sheet. Axel's rocking began to become more prominent until Xemnas had reached the seventh name and the door burst open, Demyx's disheveled form all-but falling into the room, his clothes rumpled and hair sticking every-which-way. (more so than usual... if that was possible)

Demyx smiled akwardly at the dark glare that Xemnas sent his way, handing the man his tardy pass and flinching when it was ripped from his grasp. He hurriedly wandered into the back to claim his usual seat.

It was then that Roxas noticed the bright red mark marring a good portion of Demyx's right cheek-- a mark that was slowly darkening into an eventual bruise. In the background, Xemnas continued to call out role. When the older blonde took his seat, Roxas leaned closer to Demyx, who's eyes were trained straight ahead, arms crossed.

"Why were you late? Did you get in a fight?" He whispered. Roxas felt nosy for asking, but to him, the best way to find out what you wanted was to be blunt and ask.

Demyx's gaze flickered to Roxas momentarily before he shifted his focus back to the front of the class, "Somethin' like that." the blonde murmured uncomfortably, and fell silent. Roxas let out a huff of aggravation and sat back in his seat, realizing that he wouldn't be able to extract any more information from his friend.

There was a silence that descended the group, broken only by the chiming of 'here!' when their names were called.

It wasn't long after Xemnas began to teach that Roxas should have known something bad was going to happen. When Demyx began to tap his foot softly, it should have been an omen to Roxas that the peace was about to be horribly disturbed, and in more ways than one.

Roxas didn't realize it until it was too late. Demyx's lips parted, and he began to sing under his breath softly, but loud enough for the entire row to hear.

"_Scotty doesn't know, that Fiona and me, do it in my van every Sunday_." In the two second pause between the first verse and the second verse, Axel's voice had joined in. The redhead's face had split into a grin after the first three words had been uttered from Demyx's mouth.

Axel slammed his hand on the desk as he belted the lyrics with Demyx. "_She tells him she's at church, but she doesn't go. Still she's on her knees and Scotty doesn't know! Oh- Scotty doesn't know-oh. So don't tell Scotty, Scotty doesn't know, Scotty doesn't know_-!"

Roxas nearly cracked his head against the desk when Xigbar's deeper voice leapt into the fray, now granting the sophomore access to a surround sound porno song in the making.

"_Fiona says she's out shoppin'_." As he sang, Axel leaned close to Roxas, lips brushing along the blonde's ear as his voice became a decible lower. "_Mmmbut she's under me and I'm not **stoppin'**_." Axel pulled away and began to air guitar.

Saix's had joined in with them at some point, and Roxas could swear that an entire other row of students had joined in as Demyx led the group, his voice standing out above all others.

Roxas wasn't sure if it was Demyx's singing, or the atmosphere, but he began to feel uncomfortably hot, something stirring low in his gut as Axel slung an arm around his shoulder after he'd finished belting out the chorus with the others.

"_Scotty's got her on the phone- and she's tryin' not to moan... It's a three way call and he knows** nothing**_-" Axel had become extremely close during his singing, and Roxas licked his lips, mouth only inches away from the older teen's. Roxas could feel Axel's breath rush across his face with each word sung and Roxas gave into temptation and leaned forward.

"**Alright!** That's enough!" Roxas jerked back second before his lips made contact with Axel's, eyes wide and a blush prominent as he whipped his head to stare at one very furious Xemnas, who now stood only ten feet from their row.

Demyx flopped back down in his seat, whereas Saix stood, looking cooly at their teacher. "It was my idea sir."

An odd look flickered along Xemnas's face before he cleared his throat, calming considerably from that one sentence.

"Well then- Saix, stop by my classroom during lunch to.. discuss your punishment." Saix nodded and there was a long silence that descended upon them all as Xemnas left, broken only when the man was out of hearing distance and Demyx's let out a long _'ewwwww.'_

Seifer, who sat in front of Axel, leaned over to Raijin and muttered the word 'fag' quietly to his friend. He hissed in pain when Axel vaulted Roxas's planner at the back of his head. Roxas shot Axel a glare for improper use of his planner, slipping down in his seat to use his foot to retrieve the abused school-based object.

Axel's hand patted his knee in gratitude and Roxas realized that maybe letting Axel chuck his planner at people wasn't so bad after all. The blonde boy gave his friend a small smile, feeling his face warm up just slightly when his grin was returned.

"Teen Titans! Go!" Xigbar shrieked.

Roxas caved and cracked his head into his desk.

------

The rest of the morning passed with little significance, save for Xigbar's spontaneous outbursts and Demyx's knack for avoiding certain topics regarding the injury on his face.

Lunch came soon enough, and Roxas found himself squished between Demyx and Axel, which had become routine. There was a small uproar of surprise when Sora sat down, quite Riku-less. Demyx had nearly strangled the brunette boy for information, but hand been beaten over the head with a very thick textbook by the newly arrived Riku.

Demyx sniffled, clutching tightly to his head and giving Riku a wounded puppy look.

Riku sat down next to Sora, rolling his eyes at Demyx and discreetly sliding his hand around Sora's back to rest it against the boy's hip. Roxas didn't notice the action, preoccupied with Axel's thigh brushing against his own as a result of Demyx's wild movements.

"Demyx, how can you give me a kicked puppy look when you've never seen the expression of a puppy when it's kicked?" Riku asked, taking an offered chip out of the opened bag that Sora extended to him.

"I have." Larxene cut in from three seats down. Sora scowled.

"That's because you're a horrible person and you kick your dog."

"It pisses on my floor." Larxene shot back, making stabbing motions at Sora's face with her pen. Sora gave her an evil glare-pout and turned his head away, arms crossing.

"You have a dog?" Roxas paused in the eating of his own potato-chips to peer down the table and at the blonde girl. Larxene momentarily stopped in her stabbity motions and turned to nod at Roxas. Demyx slapped his forehead. Larxene stabbed Xigbar in the shoulder.

Xigbar shrieked and jerked away, losing balance and falling out of his seat.

"What kinda dog is it?" Roxas asked, looking genuinely interested- sorta. Demyx smacked his head again, but the younger boy was ignoring him. Axel sighed, muttering "oh jesus. Here we go."

"A mutt." Larxene turned to her tray of food, picking up her fork. She stabbed her mashed potatoes.

"Oh..what's it's name?"

"Mutt." Came Larxene's curt and mildly disinterested reply, as she was now absorbed into stabbing her empty milk carton.

"..."

Axel gave Roxas a soothing back-rub while the boy vainly tried to think of something to reply to Larxene's latest confession. His brain, however, had commited mutiny, and was currently nailing a 'back in five minutes' sign to the inner portion of Roxas's skull.

"I have a de-venemized cobra named Professor Membrane." Zexion said softly, not once lifting his gaze from his book. The information was taken in stride, but no man ever dared to mock Zexion's pet choice- nor it's name.

"Do you have a pet, Roxas?" Demyx turned to peer at his friend, hoping to help their newest friend achieve a full mental recovery. Axel's hand left Roxas's back and the boy nodded. Demyx perked up, eyebrows raising and giving him a look that urged him to continue.

"I have a gerbi-"

"With a crooked tail!" Sora put in, thrusting a finger forward to accentuate that he was stating a fact. Roxas shot him a glare.

"With a crooked ta-"

"Why's he got a crooked tail?" Demyx interrupted- but backed away when an icy wind brushed past his shoulders. The sudden gust of cold may have come from a door opening, or possibly the violent glare that Roxas shot in Demyx's direction.

_"We don't speak of that."_

"You shut the door on his tail!" Sora squawked indignantly, throwing his bag of chips at Roxas. Apparently, Sora thought it important that the entire group know the truths of Roxas's horrible and cruel abuse of animals. There was a dissaproving look from Demyx and the others, and Roxas narowed his eyes at his big brother. Sora returned the glare with an expression that rightfully was labeled 'VENGANCE IS MINE.'

"It was an accident!" Roxas hissed. Sora shrugged, waving his hand flippantly. The younger sibling sighed in aggravation, turning back to Demyx. "What I was trying to say, before Sora interrupted me, was that I have a gerbil, with a crooked tail, yes, we know. He's almost pure white."

"What's his name?" Axel asked from over Roxas's shoulder.

"Oathkeeper."

Yet another akward silence befell them all, each of the teens looking at one another. Sora seemed quite triumphant and Riku had smacked his head into his palm, mimicking Demyx's previous actions.

"... wow..." Demyx said gently, but his voice became bolder with his next statement. "And you guys call _**me**_ a fag."

Sora flipped his hand once in a dismissive manner. "I had _nothing_ to do with it."

"Shut up, Sora! You're the one that named your cat Decisive Pumpkin!" Roxas squeaked out, whipping his arm out to point an accusing finger to his brother. Sora's face took on his (now trademark) VENGANCE look.

Roxas had shouted at the same time Axel had been taking a rather large drink from his soda, and unluckily for Axel, the boy had started laughing, clasping a hand over his mouth to stop the carbonated drink from spraying over everyone.

Demyx had begun cracking up when he looked over at Axel. Soda was dripping through his fingers, and had somehow gotten onto his face and chin. A few droplets of the dark liquid were sliding down Axel's pale neck and into his shirt, getting the collar slightly damp.The redhead was too busy trying to breathe to wipe off any of the cola product.

The entire table soon burst out into giggles, chuckles, and spontaneous laughter when they caught sight of poor Axel, who had yet to regain his breath and was now making strange, hyena-esque squeaking noises as he inhaled with each laugh.

Even Roxas could help but grin wildly.

It didn't help the situation when Xigbar leapt up and declared that there was a deranged bird in the lunch room that was beckoning the one-eyed boy with it's sick and twisted mating calls.

"Oh God- my kidney just ruptured." Demyx moaned between chuckles, clutching his sides. Axel gasped for breath, wiping at his face with the back of his jacket sleeve.

"I hate you all so fucking much." He laughed out, stealing napkins off of Marluxia's lunch tray and stuffing them down his shirt to dry it off.

As everyone calmed down, Demyx decided to bring up the pet conversation once more.

"What kind of pet do you have, Riku?"

There was a pause before the silver-haired teen decided to respond, having calmed down considerably. "A green parrot." he muttered, resting his elbow on the table.

"A parrot? Kickass. I've only got like, ten hummingbirds..." Marluxia commented idly, giving them a small hand wave that insisted the end of that discussion. Riku shook his head, growing somber quite quickly.

"Not kickass. I hate the damn thing." He explained, looking serious in every meaning of the word. An odd look crossed Marluxia's face, but he shrugged. Demyx, however, scowled.

"Aw, why? It would be so cool to have a parrot! You could teach it to say a bunch of funny shit." He exclaimed, snatching Axel's previously discarded soda bottle, peering at it to check for backwash. He shrugged, apparently realizing he didn't care either way, and took a swig of it.

Riku sighed. "That's exactly why I hate it. It's all because my Uncle Ansem had to watch it last summer when we went on vacation, and now it always goes around squawking '**Kingdom Hearts! Fill me with the Power of Darkness!**' It's seriously fuckin' annoying when you hear it at three o'clock in the morning."

Roxas thought back to the various times he had been over to Riku's house when that bird wouldn't shut the fuck up, and decided that the thing was, indeed, annoying as all hell. (and it always stared at him like he was a frikin piece of paopu fruit or somethin.' )

"I think it's funny." Sora threw in offhandedly, to which Riku returned with a scowl.

"Funny? You want to know what's funny?" Axel shot in, still wiping at his face with spare napkins. The group turned to look at him, curious expressions on there faces.

"Xigbar has a Liger."

Xigbar whipped his head around so fast at the mention of his name that he fell out of his seat again. The rest of the group, save for Zexion and Demyx, stared at Axel like he'd just stripped down to nothing but a thong and started dance humping Roxas's shoulder.

Axel leaned back to peer at Xigbar, who was lying on the floor with his legs propped on the bench. "Xiggy, don't you have a Liger?"

Xigbar stared at Axel. Ever-so-slowly, he began to nod, his eye wide and mouth slightly parted. "Red XIII."

Axel grinned triumphantly and looked back to the rest of the group, shocked expressions all-around. "He got it two years ago in a stoner-trade off that he doesn't quite remember. Me, Demyx and Zexy got called over to his house at about two in the morning to him shrieking about a giant, deranged, man-eating cat." As Axel spoke, Xigbar pulled himself back up into a sitting position with a grunt.

"We went over there, and it was about a year old, back then, anyway, we went over there and the thing was just lyin' on his bed, chewin' on a pillow. Xigbar's had the thing ever since. I guess it was tame even before he got it, 'cause it's cuddlier than a cat." Axel finished his tale with a smile, resting his chin on his upturned palm. He drummed the fingers of his other hand against the table, awaiting the information to take effect.

"... holy shit dude." Marluxia muttered.

"Speaking of cats- Didn't you have a cat once, Axel?" The aforementioned redhead narrowed his eyes at the mentioning of his cat, and Demyx began to regret ever mentioning the poor feline.

"Yes, Demyx. I had a cat. Until** you** _murdered_ it." He hissed. Demyx looked quite scandalized, slapping an open palm against his chest.

"I did not!" He yelped, "That cat commited suicide! It jumped out a window!" Now **that** got Roxas's attention. Axel huffed through his nose and crossed his arms, looking away from the group. Demyx took it as permission to explain, seeing as they were already in the process of a Tarentino moment.

"The cat was a blackish-blue thing. He was an emo cat. His name was Sasuke." At this point, Marluxia cut in with a series of ' ooh ooh's!' and leaned forward, waving his hand wildly about to grab their attention. Demyx paused in his story-telling to allow Marluxia to interrupt.

"Is this the same cat that swore revenge on his brother cat that lived in the apartment complex across the street, and looked more like a weasel than a cat?" The rosy-haired boy asked excitedly, eyes wide and gleeful at actually knowing something pertaining to the conversation at hand. Demyx nodded with a loud 'uh huh.' in reply.

"As I was saying- he was an emo cat. But that is not all. For this emo cat was in love with Axel's neighbor's moomba-"

"Named Naruto!" Marluxia cut in again. Demyx shot the other male a glare that clearly explained, _'this is my story, bitch! So back the fuck off and let me tell it! grr!' _Marluxia shut up, and leaned back into his seat next to Axel, who still looked as if he didn't want to be a part of the conversation at-hand.

Demyx cleared his throat. "Yes- Sasuke the Emo Cat was in love with Naruto the Moomba. It was a love doomed to fail, because Naruto happened to believe them to be rivals, and often tried to harass Sasuke the Emo Cat- leaving it an unrequieted love. This was why Sasuke was an Emo Cat. The fact that Axel's landlord's pink pet Chocobo named Sakura seemed to stalk Sasuke the Emo Cat didn't really help the situation."

Roxas's head had begun to throb dully by the end of Demyx's tale. It was a soap opera waiting to happen. He rubbed idly at his temple. "So- how did he die?"

"He commited suicide."

Axel huffed at this point, deciding it was high time to enter back into the conversation. "Demyx murdered it because he grabbed him off of my bed and swung him around, forgot to **hold on** to him, and Sasuke went flying into the wall. I would have jumped out the window too, if I had to suffer through that shit." The redhead said heatedly, eyes narrowed at Demyx in a very accusatory fashion.

Demyx jutted his bottom lip out in the best semblance of a pout that he could muster. "It was an _accident!_ I thought it was a stuffed animal!" He protested.

It was then that Roxas shifted his gaze as something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Someone was making a beeline for their table, moving casually but steadily. From what Roxas could see, this guy had long, dark hair that covered his right eye, and was sporting a peculiar magenta-ish colored long-sleeved shirt with the word _Boo_ scrawled across the chest.

As the guy drew closer, Roxas could clearly make out the grin etched onto his face. It was a look Roxas had seen many times on Riku as the silver-haired boy dragged Sora off to the bathrooms.

Everyone turned their attention to the head of the table as the guy came to a halt directly in front of Demyx. The blond quickly turned, smiling widely. "Hey Sai!" he greeted cheerfully, waving at the other male.

Sai's grin widened and a sly look crossed over the teen's face. "Hey Demyx. Look at what I got you." The male held up a small plastic package, and Demyx squealed in delight, clapping his hands together before snatching the honeybun package from the other's grasp.

"Eeeh! You're awesome, Sai! Thanks!" The mohawked boy exclaimed, leaning out of his seat to wrap his arms around Sai's stomach, a wide grin on his face. Sai's face took on a dopey expression and he patted Demyx on the head before the blonde boy pulled back.

Sai waved his hand nonchalantly. "Eh, no problem, no prob-" the teen halted in mid-word as a foreboding sense of dread washed over him. He knew that feeling. Fate-sealingly slow, Sai raised his eyes to meet the gaze of Zexion, who was seated beside Demyx. It was a familiar look; a look that clearly stated, "_I will fucking cut you._"

Sai chuckled nervously, backing away from the table. "I…uh…must go now. Business to attend to, and all. Enjoy your honeybun! Bye Demyx." He said hastily, giving the teen a quick hand wave before spinning on his heel with the intention to haul ass far, far away from that table.

Demyx paused from the mauling of his honeybun wrapper. "G'bye Sai!" He called out to the retreating form, lifting the honeybun package to wave it back and forth, even though Sai couldn't see it, for he was pre-occupied with saving his own skin.

Marluxia rolled his eyes and resumed his conversation with Sora and Larxene, serenaded by the crinkling of Demyx's wrapper. Roxas raised an eyebrow. Well, that had been…interesting, to say the least.

Xigbar sighed, making a point of turning away from Demyx to face Marluxia, Zexion, and Larxene. "You know you're a ho when you suck dick for a honeybun." The stoner commented, loudly enough for the entire table to hear.

Sora snorted into his soda, inducing a hacking fit accompanied by the snickering of Riku whilst the silver-haired teen attempted to pat the boy on the back and help him regain breath after choking on the bubbly carbonated drink from Hell. (it was nothing compared to the choking fit that had occured with Axel earlier, however)

Roxas let out a strange wheezing noise as a potato chip got lodged in his throat.

Demyx's merciless attack on his treat came to a screeching halt as he froze, slamming his fists onto the table a moment later, the poor honeybun clenched and squished inside of it's package. "Fuck you! I got this for free!" The blond snarled at Xigbar, his eyes alit with rage and embarassment, as was evident by the bright blush on his cheeks. Demyx then looked down to see his utterly mutilated (and still packaged) honeybun, and let out a wail of depression.

The older male seemed unaffected by this, responding without missing a beat. "You _really_ know you're a ho when you don't even consider sucking dick as a method of payment anymore."

---

Meanwhile

---

A sly grin spread itself across Sai's face as he slinked over to a red-haired boy dressed in a trenchcoat with black eyeliner thickly coated under each eye, a scowl evident on his face as he tinkered with what looked like a miniature robot.

"Jack Spicer, right?" Sai cooed, leaning forward and pressing a gentle hand to the boy's bicep. Jack paused in his tinkering to look up and raise an eyebrow at him.

"Jack Spicer, Evil Boy Genius-- who wants to know?"

Sai grinned, a perverted glint in his eyes.

---

"Hey- it's part of the fag-brigade." Roxas felt Axel's hand on his shoulder tighten as they turned around. Demyx stood a few feet behind him, his path being blocked by one Seifer Almasy, complete with his beanie and homo-erotic belly shirt. Demyx scowled at Seifer, who almost reached Axel's height of six foot two. Demyx wasn't short, he was five nine and damn proud- but Seifer's toweing didn't help the situation.

"Get out of my way, Seifer." The blonde snarled, his grip on his messenger bag tightening fractionally. Seifer laughed, lifting a hand from his hip to flick Demyx in the forehead.

"Make me- mullet-head."

"How about _I_ make you, fuckass?" Roxas's eyes widened as Axel pushed up the sleeves to his black band jacket and took a step towards Seifer. Fuujin and Raijin blocked Axel's approach, smirks evident on their faces.

Roxas's brows furrowed, and he opened his mouth to protest a fight when Zexion approached, Marluxia and Xigbar in tow, their pace moderately fast. The violet-haired teen, who barely reached an inch below Seifer, seemed to create a deadly vibe about the trio that sent the blonde bully stepping away from Demyx, who clutched to his backpack strap like a lifeline.

"I suggest you fuck off an go harrass some poor sap who will actually deal with your pathetic bullshit that you call superiority." Zexion hissed, his lithe frame somehow towering over Seifer's, eyes narrowed and deadly, even if one was partially obscured by his hair. Seifer's eyes flickered from Zexion, to where Xigbar and Marluxia stood, before backing away.

"I don't have time for this." He sneered and whirled around, motioning for Rai and Fuu to follow as he stormed off campus.

Zexion turned to Demyx, gaze softening. He gently ruffled the blonde boy's mohawk and left, Marluxia following him close behind, both of them heading for the bus area.

Xigbar slapped Axel.

"What the fuck was that for!" Axel shrieked, holding tightly to his abused cheek. Xigbar glared at him and Demyx began to laugh, reaching out to pull the two taller teens into a large hug. Roxas's gaze wandered over to his brother and Sora gave him a half-hearted shrug whilst Riku shook his head.

Axel cleared his throat and Demyx released them, patting Xigbar on the head and getting slapped for his efforts.

The group slowly made their way out the doors, Demyx chattering to Sora and Riku about band class and Axel guiding Roxas with an arm around his shoulders.

"Well, Zexion's gonna show up at my place in about two hours- Demyx, you and Xiggy coming over?" Axel asked, tilting his head to peer behind him. Demyx paused in his conversation to give Axel confirmation before continuing- only to be shushed by Sora.

"Have you got any new games?" Sora bounced over to Axel, fingers clasped in front of him. Axel laughed, eyes taking on a mocking look.

"Is Castle Soul TWO- good enough?"

Sora let loose a deranged inhaling sound that resembled the strangling of a bird.

"You got number twoooo? Oh jesus on rye bread with wheat crackers on the side!" Sora's arms shot out to grab Roxas's biceps, shaking his little brother furiously. "We are going over to Axel's place- you have no say in this! None!"

Roxas wasn't sure if he even managed a nod between the snapping of his neck back and forth from the exuberance of Sora's rabid shaking.

Sora remained latched to Roxas's arm as the brunette swung them around to face the parking lot. "To the Axelmobile!" Sora cried, jabbing a finger into the air.

"The Axelmobile!" Demyx echoed, jumping to stand beside his friend and placing his hands on his hips. The two then crossed their arms together and began skipping out to the parking lot. Axel scratched at his head, shooting Riku an apologetic glance and then leading the rest of the group to his car. Xigbar patted Roxas on the shoulder and then walked past him.

Roxas was surprised and completely unexpectant to find Axel's vehicle of choice to be a black SUV. Sora and Riku sat in the very back, and Xigbar and Demyx had already buckled themselves into the middle seats of the car. Axel nudged Roxas towards the passenger side and Roxas opened the door while the redhead walked around to the driver's side, entering the car right after the blonde.

"So- who's ready to go?" Axel asked, adjusting his rearview mirror and sticking the keys in the ignition. Roxas buckled his seatbelt as Demyx cheered gleefully. Axel turned to face the blonde boy next to him.

"Ready to see where I live?"

Roxas gulped, and then nodded. Axel gave a short laugh and then started the car.

-------------------

**Author's Notes: **Psycho Rooster here. I wrote the majority of this chapter, this time around- yeah. Surprised to find out that there's some underlying drama here? It's not your stereotypical drama, so don't click the back button just yet.

The cameo in the story that gave Demyx the honeybun was The Boomerang- because he is full of win and awesome, and I 'm not sure why we really stuck him in.. and we aren't even sure if we got his character right because we couldn't ask because it was a surprise.

All the books that Zexion reads are actually fanfic reccomendations of ours, there will be at least one every chapter.

Check our profile for more information. Click our homepage, and go to it. Our homepage is where we post update information and such.

**Random Kyuubi:** And to all those who have us on alerts and favorites, please at least review so we can feel important.


	4. Saffron

**Carmine Complex**

_The BirdFox Hybrid Productions_

**Disclaimer:** Kingdom Hearts, or any of the other cameo fandoms that will sporadically appear in our stories, are NOT owned by us.

* * *

First of all, we'd like to say that YukaYuka is the greatest. Ever. As far as this fic is concerned, she picks up almost everything we drop (She was the only one who figured out that Sora was fighting Xaldin in the prologue. She wins all the prizes for that reason alone, cause that was like, the most obscure reference in the world . ) 

She is totally full of win and awesome because she made us this wonderful video of the KH boys singing Scotty Doesn't Know ( http // www . youtube . com / watch?vWExa-benTc ) And don't even get PR started on her roleplaying abilities...

http /www . filelodge . com / files / room 17 /445373 / Dr5B15D5B15D . Bombay - MySitar . mp3 --- link to the song in the story. It's highly recommended you listen to it before or during reading this chapter.

Anyway...

**Saffron: **_n_- a strong yellow.

* * *

The car ride had been far from uneventful- mostly due to Demyx's need to leap in between the driver and passenger seat to attack the radio during the middle of the ride. The action had knocked the car into neutral, the vehicle lurching and cracking Demyx's head into the aforementioned radio. Axel had whirled around after pulling the car out of neutral and slapped Demyx four times until the blonde had retreated back into his seat. 

Now, it was true that Roxas would like to have said that he only gaped_ slightly_ at the large, friendly sign as they pulled into 'Destiny Islands Apartment Complexes' (The name had always confused Roxas, seeing as they were nowhere near any islands…or destiny, for that matter.)

The reason it surprised him, though, was because Destiny Islands wasn't your average, lower-middle class string of apartment buildings that had a paint job layered with grime and a mass of grungy little kids running around to match the walls.

No, Destiny Islands was one of those sidewalk-having, pool bearing, three bedroom two bathroom with your own personal washer and dryer set apartment _communities._ This newly aquired information brought on another question in Roxas's mind.

…Was Axel a rich bastard and just got sidetracked from mentioning that tiny detail?

The aforementioned redhead steered past the first paopu-yellow building, to which Sora 'ooohed,' fondly at. Roxas raised an eyebrow at the festive tropical green exterior of the second building, choosing not to comment as they kept going. Axel rounded a semi-circle and pulled into a parking space in front of the third building, the last structure in their section.

Demyx unbuckled himself so quickly that the seatbelt had flown back and hit Riku in the forehead as the silver-haired teen had attempted to exit the car. Demyx ignored his friend's roar of pain and eagerly pushed his way out of his door.

Roxas unbuckled his own seatbelt and slipped out of the SUV, narrowly avoiding getting smashed in the face by Xigbar's door when the stoner thrust it open. Sora was attempting to stop Riku from lunging out of the car to strangle Demyx.

There was a struggle, and Roxas didn't see what happened to shut Riku up, but whatever Sora had done, it had worked, because the two extricated themselves from the car with little fuss.

Roxas stood on the sidewalk, taking refuge with Axel, watching as the taller male pressed the 'lock' button on his key fob and was rewarded with a short honk from the SUV. Axel made the motion to deposit his keys into his back pocket, but Xigbar, using his mad stoner powers, appeared behind him to snatch them away to repeatedly hit the lock and unlock button.

It took a moment of incoherent honking before Roxas recognized the Jingle Bells tune. Axel pounced on Xigbar, initiating a short tussle until he'd retrieved his poor, abused car keys.

Axel straightened his hair, turned away from Xigbar, huffed, walked away from the widly grinning stoner, and over to Roxas, who took this time to survey the parking lot and apartment buildings in the meantime.

"Well.. they're colorful?" He offered weakly, watching Demyx and Sora race up the stairs of the ocean blue structure before them. An amused smirk graced Axel's lips as they followed behind Riku.

"You should see the ones further up in this place." The older male informed, waving a lazy hand over his shoulder to signify the other establishments they had yet to see.

As they reached the second floor landing, they were met with irritated shouts from the opposite end of the open hallway, courtesy of two hyperactive idiots. "C'mon! If you guys were gonna be that freakin' slow, you should've taken the elevator or something!" Demyx complained indignantly as they neared the duo. Sora eagerly voiced his agreement as they waved their hands spastically to urge the rest of the group to speed up their pace.

"Yeah yeah, shut up." Axel muttered irritably as he pushed his way past the two bodies and came to a halt in front of the white door labeled '8C'-- the last door in the hall.

The teenager dug his keys out of his pocket once more and selected one (it had a black and red fire design painted onto it), shoving it into the door's deadbolt lock and turning it. Roxas felt a bit of excited apprehension swell in his chest; he was about to see where Axel lived. Where he _lived_. As in, where he ate, and slept, and took a showe-

Axel paused, glancing over his shoulder at the group behind him. "It's kinda messy…" He informed, as if to precaution them. Roxas, though appreciative of the warning, had nothing to fear- if only for the fact that he'd once found a slice of two month old pizza lying under Sora's bed, along with a pudding spoon from last Christmas.

"I'm guessing you've never seen Sora's room, then." Roxas muttered quietly, glancing to the side. Sora, who either didn't hear his brother or didn't bother reacting. He was far too busy acting as if he had to go pee, really, _really_ badly.

The brunette let out a long, imaptient groan. "Do we _care?_ Castle Soul_ **Two**_!" the brunette cried, beating his fists lightly against Axel's back. The redhead chuckled, and Roxas wanted to laugh at the odd fluxuating sound it made from Sora's fists. Axel removed his key from the lock, and pushed the apartment door open slowly.

The drama of the moment was ruined horribly when Demyx and Sora immediately barreled past everyone into the apartment, earning a squawk from Xigbar as the stoner chased after them. Roxas hurried to follow behind Riku, his hands tingling. As they crossed the threshold, Axel brought up the rear, shutting the door behind him.

Roxas eyed the pile of shoes next to the doorway and followed the other's examples, removing his own sneakers and placing them next to the heap. The blonde padded lightly after Axel, his socks sliding on the hardwood floors.He'd had enough experience with socks on tile to know that running resulted in bloody shins, hoping the same laws applied to polished wood.

Roxas came to a halt beside the overstuffed black couch Xigbar and Riku had staked claim to. The youngest blonde allowed his eyes to wander the room absorbing in the details to sate his curiosity.

Like Axel had warned, there were various books, papers, and clothing items strewn about the room and furniture (Two leather recliners on the left side of the couch had a book pile each) but it wasn't terribly bad. No, Axel had never seen Sora's room.

Sora had immediately gravitated to the sleek metallic entertainment system, attaching himself to the television placed in the middle. Which was, for lack of a better term, fucking _huge. _

"Did this thing get bigger since the last time I saw it?" The brown-haired teen asked in a vaguely awe-struck tone, giving the object a thorough once-over. Roxas was pretty sure that his brother was even salivatingat it.

Axel sighed and leaned onto the small table beside the couch, yanking its drawer open and dropping his keys inside. Roxas quickly snuck a peek at Axel's ass whilst the redhead shut the drawer and then stood straight. "Sorry kid, but you're just too used to staring at your tiny-ass television."

Sora paused in his molestation of the technological device, whipping around to stare at Roxas. "See Rox, this is what I was talking about when I told mom and dad that we wanted a forty-seven inch plasma screen T.V. for Christmas-- but noo, they're cheap bastards…" The brunette muttered darkly, turning and running his hand over the television's silver exterior longingly. It may have been a trick of his ears, but Roxas swore to whatever God he didn't believe in that Sora was hissing _'my precious, my precious.'_ lowly and creepishly.

Roxas watched as his brother's gaze wandered to the entertainment system's cabinet next to the television. "Hey, is this where the games are?" Sora asked, placing a curious hand on the cabinet's door. Axel glanced up and gave a nod of affirmation.

"Yeah, but-" the redhead never got to finish before Sora eagerly yanked the cabinet's door open with such vigor that Roxas thought the door was going to snap off it's hinges. It seemed like everyone wanted to break something or cause bodily injury in fits of glee today...

Inside, every single one of the five long shelves was packed to the brim with videogame cases- many more than a video store stocked, and every one shining with an ethereal light. Underneath those five shelves were two more shelves that held a plethora of different game systems, ranging from the original Vinteno to the XCube 180.

Sora's eyes grew to freakishly large proportions, and he emitted such a strange wheezing sound that it gave Roxas the sneaking suspicion that a small mammal was trying to claw its way out of his brother's throat. But even the blonde had to admit- that was a hell of a lotta games.

After a few long, silent moments, Sora exhaled the air he'd been holding in with a loud _whoosh_. "I," the brunette breathed, never tearing his eyes away from the plethora of games, "think I just creamed my pants."

Roxas slapped his forehead with a silent groan. Demyx grinned from his spot on the navy blue rug. "Wow. Axel's games accomplished in ten seconds what Riku still can't after three years!" With this single outburst, Axel and Xigbar had burst out laughing. Axel slid to the ground, clutching his sides as he gasped for air.

Demyx opened his mouth to continue, but instead let out a loud shriek as a lime green throw-pillow was violently smashed into the back of his skull, causing him to fall face-first into the floor with a **thud**.

"_Fuck you, Demyx!_" Riku snarled, raising the pillow in preparation to bring it down on the offending blonde's head once more. He looked flustered, and there was a familiar look in his eyes- one Roxas had seen many-a-time in Sora's.

VENGEANCE.

Demyx struggled to his knees and hurriedly crawled away from the couch. "I'm kidding, I'm _kidding!_ We all know you and Sora fuck like bunnies!" The blonde protested desperately to the weapon-wielding Riku.

Roxas, who had been trying to ignore the conversation of the group of idiots he was surrounded by, was viciously slapped with the latter half of Demyx's sentence. "What?!" He shrieked, more out of surprise than anything.

Axel and Xigbar's laughter came to an abrupt halt; Riku and Demyx froze. "Uh…" was all the mohawked blonde managed.

Sora had accomplished the shocking feat of pulling himself away from the game cabinet and strode over to Roxas, looking surprisingly unfazed by Demyx's statement. "Now Roxas," Sora began, sliding an arm around his brother's shoulders and walking them toward the living room doorway. "I think there's something we need to talk about." The brunette continued until he had dragged them both into the next room to give him the most disturbing information that the blonde would recieve for the next fifteen minutes of his life.

Axel slowly turned to the remaining occupants of the room with a wide grin. "Pay up, guys." The redhead announced smugly, holding his hand out. The three males groaned and grudgingly moved to dig around in their pockets.

"Demyx and his fuckin' big mouth…Roxas could've stayed in the dark till at least Christmas…" Riku grumbled, fishing out a couple of bills from his wallet and tossing them at Axel. "Hey, I'm out fifteen bucks too, ya know." Demyx argued, handing over his own money. Xigbar didn't really say any words, but a strange grumble ramble that was similar to the sounds a Sasquatch would probably make.

They waited, five long, painstaking minutes as Sora gave Roxas a lecture about bees who didn't like birds and such. Xigbar would have found the situation amusing, if he hadn't been far too stoned to remember that Roxas had admitted his sexuality earlier that day to be as straight as a circle.

"First of all, what the hell?" Roxas took the initiative to speak after Sora had pulled them from the doorway to lean on the wall. Sora sighed, patting his brother's arm. He acted as if talking to Roxas about this would be harder than getting a mule to shit gold.

"Roxas, as much as you like to say you're not related to me, you are. Cause…well, you're dense." Roxas glared vehemently at Sora, protesting with a hiss of anger. Sora dismissed him with a flippant hand wave. "Oh don't give me that bullshit. You've walked into my room when Riku was on top of me. And asked us to stop having a tickle-fight. We were _shirtless_." Sora jabbed Roxas in the forehead with his index finger.

"You _are_ dense."

--

It had taken a heated arguement about Roxas's oblivious-ness and then a long, painfully detailed story about how Riku and Sora had gotten together before the two returned, Roxas flushed and Sora bounding over to Riku to finally cuddle him openly in front of Roxas without the paranoia that might have ensued.

Axel grinned, gently grabbing Roxas's arm to lead them out of the living room. "C'mon. I'll give you the grand tour." Roxas figured Axel just wanted to distract him from Sora rubbing his cheek against Riku's.

"Me too!" Demyx cried, jumping up from his spot on the floor. He leaned to the side and reached over the couch, grasping Xigbar's ponytail and giving it a good tug before quickly pedaling out of the room, Xigbar's sailor-worthy curses following him.

Roxas had already been in the dining room, but now he had a chance to really inspect it now that he wasn't preoccupied with affirming Sora's sexual relationship with Riku. In an odd contrast with the living room's stormy blue walls, the dining room was a light green as limey as the adjoining room's couch pillows.

The rectangular table in the center of the room was, not surprisingly, stacked haphazardly with books, papers, and misplaced clothing, looking ready to topple at any given moment. Roxas opted to stay silent. Axel steered them towards the doorway on the right, his hand never leaving Roxas's arm. Demyx followed closely behind, humming a barely audible tune to himself.

Roxas didn't think that was the reason that he wanted to stand closer to Axel.

"This is the kitchen," Axel announced with a wave of his hand. Roxas stumbled slightly, his socks nearly toppling him to an early death on the room's black and white checkered linoleum floor. The blonde steadied himself and glanced around, Demyx brushing past him to reach for a bag of cookies sitting atop the refrigerator. Roxas had to give Axel points on originality, at least. This was the first kitchen he'd ever seen painted periwinkle.

Roxas was given no more warning than a slight wisp of air as a black blur tore past him, bodily slamming Demyx into the refrigerator. The appliance suffered a rock that shook the whole kitchen, accompanied by Demyx's muffled screams as his face was smashed into the fridge's stainless steel exterior.

"Who's the bitch now!" Xigbar roared gleefully, using his large hand to smoosh Demyx's face back and forth against the refrigerator.

"I am! I am!" Demyx squealed, flailing wildly in an attempt to escape the stoner's tight grasp on his head and back. Xigbar laughed, quite maniacally, if Roxas had anything to say about it, and pulled Demyx away from the fridge, giving him a push towards the other two male occupants and then wrenching the fridge open.

"Remember not to drink the Kool-Aid. You know he'd kill you if you touched it." Axel warned, not fazed in the least by Xigbar's violent display against Demyx and his kitchen appliances, before turning to Roxas. "You want somethin' to drink?" Roxas shook his head, watching Xigbar rummage past a few beer cans. Axel shrugged before guiding him out of the room to continue the tour.

"That's the bathroom," Axel waved a hand to their left, where the said room's door was propped open. Roxas peered into it, only briefly sweeping his eyes over the space before Demyx yanked him out so they could continue the 'tour.'

The trio came to a halt in front of another door, the same sterile white color as all the others in the house. Roxas glanced at it curiously, then over to the closed door a few feet to their right. He hadn't seen anyone else so far...

"Are your parents at work?" Roxas questioned innocently. It was a valid question. It really was. Roxas still wasn't sure what he'd done to gauge this reaction out of them.

Demyx's cheery humming came to a coughing halt. Axel didn't turn around, his shoulders tensing slightly. There was a few moments of silence before Axel simply replied, "I don't live with my parents."

A large sigh of relief whoosed behind Roxas, and the blonde blinked slowly, registering the information into his mind and filtering it through his clever response system. "Oh..."

"Anyway, this is my room." Axel switched the subject, grasping the knob before him and pushing the door open.

After Roxas had shuffled into the room behind Axel and Demyx, he found himself capable of doing only one thing: blinking. Once. Twice. Three times. His brain was unable to function properly- he couldn't compute what was being displayed before him. Roxas had found himself without the voice to demand explanation. It was only after three long, painstaking seconds that Roxas's brain bitch-slapped itself back into working order.

"Axel…why is your room pink?" He questioned, almost hesitantly, as if fearing the answer would knock his brain back out of order. His gaze roamed the bedroom's vivid fuchsia walls. There were various paint splotches overhead where whoever had been painting had run up onto the ceiling, and random uneven coating adorned each of the four walls. He could see splashes and streaks of the paint on the floor, and even a few hand-prints to boot.

Axel narrowed his eyes and turned his head away from Roxas. "We don't talk about it." The redhead muttered.

Aside from the choice of coloring, Roxas could say that it was an average teenager's living space- an unmade queen-size bed shoved in the corner opposite of the door, a dresser placed next to the closet, and of course, mess. Items of clothing were carelessly strewn around, and random junk littered the entire expanse of the room. It was the most normal thing Roxas had seen yet in the apartment. (The room's coloring excluded)

"Roxas, I'd like to introduce you to someone." Demyx, who had begun trekking to the other side of Axel's room, suddenly announced. He came to a halt at the closet door, yanking it open and practically diving inside. "My pride-" the blonde continued, tossing things over his shoulder. "My joy, my baby-" Axel was hit in the face with a shoe, and he squawked, grabbing his forehead.

Demyx emitted a small noise of triumph, backing away from the closet and pulling a large object with him. "My sitar!"

Axel rolled his eyes with a muttering of what sounded like 'jesus christ.' while rubbing his injury. Roxas eyed the oddly-shaped blue guitar that Demyx was displaying, quickly realizing he had never seen one quite like it.

"Uh...cool guitar." Roxas commented, only to duck moments later when the thing was swung forcefully at him. The force of the motion and weight of the object caused Demyx to spin in a wild circle before he could stop himself, clutching the bulky instrument tightly.

"It's a SITAR!" Demyx shrieked, cradling it to himself with a scandalized look on his face, as if Roxas had told him that the Pope was a green alien that liked giving anal probes to little boys.

Axel snorted and turned away from the two blondes, toeing his door open further. "No it's not, dumbass. C'mon." Roxas and Demyx hurried after the redhead, not bothering to shut his door as they exited.

Roxas should have known something was going to happen. He really should have. He needed to learn to trust his _'oh god Demyx is gonna create an incredibly messy and/or awkward situation'_ sense more. He should have known right away when the said lunatic began strumming a very, very odd tune on his sitar without falling out of stride with his companions.

The trio was about to reach the dining room's doorway, ready to cross into the living room. Roxas peeked over his shoulder, watching Demyx's skillfull fingers run over the blue instrument with curiousity. The mohawked boy's mouth opened, and he let forth a mere syllable of song before Axel whirled around quickly. "_No._" The redhead hissed, jabbing a finger in Demyx's direction.

Demyx's strumming slowed to a halt, his face falling. "Aw, but Axe-"

"_NO._"

Roxas bit his lip, watching Demyx deflate as Axel turned on his heel to continue. "Let him sing if he wants to, Axel." Roxas piped up, effectively stopping the other teen's movements once more. Demyx perked up, smiling hopefully.

Axel glanced at the blond, his mouth turned downward. "No. Just trust me on this."

Roxas's brow creased in confusion. What was Axel's deal? He didn't have a problem when Demyx was singing at school, so what the hell was he talking about? "Don't be mean. He can sing if he wants." Roxas jutted his lower lip out, glaring lightly. Axel averted his eyes from Roxas's face quickly. Was it his imagination, or did Axel's cheeks just take on a pinkish tinge?

"Fine. Whatever. Just don't blame me." The redhead muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets. Axel looked as if he wanted to be anywhere but here, staring off into space with a deep scowl on his normally handsome features. His brows were furrowed, as if preparing for something horrible to happen.

"Yay!" Demyx cheered, immediately starting up the weird tune he'd previously been playing as they crossed into the livingroom.

"_Hutala hutala hutala hey, playing my sitar everyday, Hutala hutala hutala ho, won't stop playing, no no no." _Demyx crowed, swinging himself around in a circle. Sora spared a millisecond to glance up from his game. Riku's eyes widened and he very quickly attempted to bury himself in the couch face first, with all of the pillows covering his head. Xigbar jumped up from the couch altogether.

"_Faster faster fast is goes, playing the sitar with my toes, hutala hey-ya hutala hey-ya hutala hey-ya oh oh ey-ya." _Demyx continued, oblivious to all that was around him.

Despite the strange, very un-serious song- what the hell kind of music was it, anyway?- Roxas found that Demyx was a really good singer. He hadn't been able to tell earlier at school, when all the other's voices had mingled together, but now the boy was solo-singing, lost in his own little world.

"_I like my sitar, I like my sitar, I play the sitar, sitar, wherever I go, oh-o-oh, I like my sitar, I like my sitar, I play the sitar, sitar, wherever I go, oh-o-oh."_

Roxas watched Demyx dance around happily, his stomach tingling. Demyx was an _excellent_ singer. Why did Axel want to stop him? The blond glanced behind himself to where the redhead was leaning against the living room's doorframe, back hunched and hands still firmly rooted in his pockets. Axel was crazy. Demyx's voice was rich and smooth and it just _flowed_- it was unlike anything Roxas had ever heard.

"_Hutala hutala hutala hey, playing my sitar night and day, hutala hutala hutala ho, connect it to my stereo, faster faster fast it goes, playing the sitar with my toes, hutala hey-ya, hutala hey-ya, hutala hey-ya, oh oh ey-ya."_

Roxas thought he heard the noise of an object hitting the ground and the creak of the couch, but he really couldn't focus on it. His whole body was flush with heat- he could practically see his face growing progressively redder. It was like the sunburn from hell and- oh god, he was _not _getting a boner. No no _no._

"_I like my sitar, I like my sitar, I play the sitar, sitar, wherever I go, oh-o-oh, I like my sitar, I like my sitar, I play the sitar, sitar, wherever I go, oh-o-oh."_

And_ jesus christ,_ the room had gotten hot. Extremely hot. Unbearably hot. Axel hot. Axel - a few feet behind Roxas, so close, he could just turn and leap and-

"Demyx! Unless you want Xigbar to jump you again, stop fucking _singing_!" Axel roared, slamming his fist against the surface beside him. Demyx's fingers froze and his mouth abruptly snapped shut, jerking Roxas out of his hazy trance.

"Aw..." Demyx mumbled, his gaze traveling over to Xigbar. The said stoner was kneeling in front of the closest wall, repeatedly rearing his head back and cracking it against the solid surface.

Warmth was no longer rushing through his body, but Roxas's face was still bright red- this time in mortification. He clapped his hands over his face, stumbling back a few steps. Oh dear jesus fucking christ on a cracker, what the _hell_?

"I tried to warn you," Roxas squeaked and jumped when a certain hand found its way to his shoulder. Axel grinned at him, an amused twinkle in his gaze. The redhead's eyes traveled downward, coming to rest on a very particular part of Roxas's body. "But I figured I'd let you learn the _hard_ way."

Roxas's eyes widened and a noise of horror escaped his throat, turning and allowing himself to collapse onto the doorway so he could wallow in his humiliation. Axel laughed and patted the blonde on the back, keeping inconspicuous the fact that there was a slight buldge in the crotch of his denim jeans. Axel seemed to have become used to the fact that Demyx's singing turned any listener hotter and hornier and a dog in heat.

"Don't worry. It happens to everyone. Better to learn sooner than later so you don't end up in a situation like that-" Axel jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

Roxas peeked up, following Axel's thumb until his gaze came to rest on the couch- upon which Riku and Sora were engaged in quite a heavy makeout session. Roxas let forth what could be described as the noise that was made when a guinea pig with down syndrome was being choked by Mr. Clean.

"Ew! Jesus christ, stop it!" Roxas shrieked, waving his hand in a desperate throwing-motion towards Riku and Sora- since he had nothing to throw. That was disgusting, and scarring, and fittingly similar to the utterly disturbed feeling Roxas got when he had the displeasure of walking in on Cloud and Leon- which happened more often that he cared for.

Riku seemed to snap out of it first, straightening up with a cough. A dazed Sora slowly rose to a sitting position beside Riku, grinning. That is, until he glanced to the floor and discovered Demyx sitting in _his_ spot, with _his_ controller, using up _his_ game time.

"Fiend!" Sora howled, launching himself from the couch and onto Demyx's back with ungodly speed. The blonde screamed as he was flattened to the ground, rolling and batting at the savage brunette until the force tugging his hair vanished, and he chanced peeking up to see Sora perched placidly on the floor, videogame controller clutched protectively to his chest.

Axel sighed and tightened his grip on Roxas, turning him and leading them both to sit with the others. Roxas followed without complaint, seeing as his hard-on had been effectively murdered by his brother's and Riku's display. Even Xigbar had returned to the couch, a small trickle of blood smearing his forehead.

Axel nudged Xigbar over and took a seat beside the stoner, pulling Roxas with him. The fivesome stared at the television screen in a zombie-esque fashion as they watched Sora re-initiate his game, finishing his previous tootsie-ship ride and getting sucked into a new world.

Roxas nearly jumped out of his seat when Sora and Demyx let out twin shrieks of joy as the television screen cleared , revealing their characters appearing in a swirl of bubbly ocean water. They had landed in the Undersea Kingdom, if Aros now sporting the lower half of a fish was any indication.

"Yay! Finally!" Sora exclaimed gleefully, gripping his controller tightly in preparation to play. Xigbar blinked at the screen, doing a near double-take.

"Dude...Where'd his penis go?" The stoner asked loudly, waving a hand at the television in earnest. Riku smacked his forehead, and Axel muttered something incoherent that probably wasn't appropriate for Roxas's virgin ears- not that the penis inquiry was.

"They have them," Demyx replied, turning to glance at Xigbar. "It just comes out when they-" the blonde swiftly ducked and barely avoided a kick to the face by Axel's heel. His eyes went wide in shock, staring at Axel with a _'why would you do that?'_ expression painted on his childish features.

"Don't." The redhead growled.

Demyx pouted. "But Axel, the-" he was again cut off by Axel's foot swinging over his head.

"I don't want to hear about it, you sick fuck. _Why_ you even know how mermaids have sex is disturbing enough." The teen retorted with a scowl. Demyx's gaze lowered to the floor, his hand pulling at the frayed bottom of his left jean leg.

"Well, in marine biology-"

"NO."

Demyx quickly scrambled into one of the couch's adjoining recliners to avoid any further potential injury. "Fishsex." He muttered darkly, pulling his legs up to his chest. Axel sighed, burying his hand into the couch cushion below him.

After a moment of digging, he pulled his hand out to reveal a purple stapler. Roxas raised an eyebrow. Axel stared at it and shrugged, apparently unfazed by the fact that he found a purple stapler in his couch, and casually chucked it at Demyx.

The targeted blonde squeaked, ducking as the object sailed past him and crashed into the nearby wall. "I'm gonna laugh if that leaves a huge-ass dent." Sora commented, though he was still in his zombified state of staring at the television and directing Aros to jump on the back of an Orca whale to swim through the currents. Axel shrugged and leaned back, stretching his arms out behind him, apparently not caring about what Sora thought or the fact that there really _was_ a huge dent in the wall.

"Well, those are the things that happen when you live in an apartment where there's nobody to tell you what to do." Riku muttered offhandedly, coughing as Xigbar elbowed him in the spleen.

Roxas frowned, Riku's comment striking him very oddly. If the multiple hi-tech, expensive appliances, the supposed alcohol in the fridge, and the three used toothbrushes propped up in a cup on the bathroom sink were any indication, Axel most certainly lived with someone.

"You don't live alone, do you?" Roxas turned his gaze to Axel, eyes questioning. He said he didn't live with his parents, so maybe he lived with an aunt and uncle, or something?

Axel's shoulders sagged, letting loose a depressed sigh. It was like getting Axel to admit to having a fetish for Roxas's hair, or something else odd and most likely true. "No. Unfortunately-"

The teen was cut off by the deafening BAM of the front door as it was violently kicked in. "Axey! I'm hooomee!" A voice sang out, promting Roxas to whip his head in the direction of the door.

"Reno! My love!" Demyx shrieked, vaulting himself out of his recliner and rocketing through the air towards the redheaded man in the doorway.

"Sweetheart!" The older redheaded man squealed happily, outstretching his arms and catching Demyx neatly as he was knocked to the ground by the boy. Demyx cooed with glee, his arms slung about the man's neck as he rubbed his cheek against the man's chest.

Roxas watched the scene with bewilderment as the two on the floor professed their undying love for eachother and started...cuddling...?

Axel dropped his head into his hands with a groan. "Ignore that." He whispered solemly. Roxas, however, found it quite hard to ignore, even when Demyx helped the man up from the ground and skipped back to the recliner as if nothing had happened.

"We're not related by choice, I swear." Axel supplied, waving a hand at the man who was currently retrieving the bag he'd been carrying that had fallen. Reno toed the front door shut and then fixed his disheveld suit, (which didn't do much except loosen his already loose tie) and then turned to the group.

"Hey Reno." Xigbar called out, accompanied by a spastic arm wave. He was rewarded with a blinding grin from Reno, who walked up and placed his hand on Axel's head, ruffling his hair wildly and being slapped in the arm for his efforts.

"Hey Xiggy." Reno's grin widened, his eyes traveling over the occupants of the room. "Riku, Sora! Long time no see!" The man greeted cheerfully, making his way over to the couch-side table and depositing a set of carkeys into it in much the same fashion as Axel had.

"Hey Reno." Riku greeted back with a half smile. Axel's brother gave him a curt nod, tilting his head to the side to watch Sora rock from side to side, hitting controller buttons madly.

"Hi Reno- can't talk- Castle Soul TWO!" The brunette exclaimed, never once placing his eyes on the man he was talking to. Reno chuckled, turning to rest his gaze on the two perched on the couch before him.

"Oh? And who's this?" He asked slyly, staring at Roxas with an amused glint in his eyes. Axel sighed, raising his hand up.

"Reno, this is Sora's little brother Roxas. Roxas, this is my brother Reno. He's the one that lives with me." The younger redhead explained monotonously, pointing back and forth between the two.

Reno scoffed, placing a hand on his hip. "I live with you? _You _live with_ me. _I pay the rent, remember?"

Axel blinked up at him. "And I buy all the groceries and shit. What's your point?" The teen asked. Reno sighed.

"Someday, when you get a real job and have to support a house, you'll understand my plight." He informed forlornly, looking somewhere to his far right. Roxas turned his head and realized that Reno was staring at a spiderweb in the corner.

Axel scowled lightly, leaning back on the couch, one lanky arm draping along the back of the couch and behind Roxas's shoulders. " I_ have_ a real job. And aren't you supposed to be at _yours_ until nine tonight?"

Reno snorted and turned. "Four o'clock, nine o'clock, what's the difference?" He dismissed, dissappearing through the living room doorway. He reappeared a moment later, bag slung over his shoulder and a large glass filled with red liquid in his hand. "Well, it was nice to meet you, Roxas." The man said, placing his glass down for a moment so that he could grab Roxas's hand and shake it vigorously.

"Uh...nice to meet you too." Roxas muttered, not quite sure if he meant it, before the man released him, grabbed his drink, drained it, put it back down, and vanished through the doorway once more.

Axel and Roxas sat in silence for a long moment, watching Sora trying desperately to keep up with the musical he was stuck in. "Your brother seems...fun." Roxas offered, his mouth quirking upward. Well, when compared to a big brother like Cloud, anyone else's older brother would come across to Roxas like they had just downed a bottle of prozac.

Axel shot Roxas a withering look. "I'll pretend you didn't say that so I won't have to slap you." The redhead growled.

There was a series of happy shouts from outside in the hallway from Reno, and Roxas stood up, walking over to open the door when it burst open and Marluxia, Zexion and Larxene were forcefully pushed in by an over-enthusiastic redhead.

"It's a party!" Reno declared, and then shut the door again. Roxas was pretty sure he could hear the older man skipping down the apartment hall singing about being pretty. Zexion extricated himself from the group, dusting himself off and clutching his book tightly, this one entitled 'Sweet Betrayal.'

Marluxia ran a hand through his hair and Larxene's foot shot out to kick him in the ass, knocking him forward and to the ground with a angry shriek of Larxene's name. Larxene grinned and moved to steal the last remaining recliner when Zexion swooped in and stole it, taking a seat and opening his book to read it.

Larxene's empty hand made stabbity motions at Zexion- though she was ignored whole-heartedly.

She sat on the floor in front of Roxas's legs, and was joined by Marluxia soon after. "Can we play a multi-player game now?" The rosy-haired man asked, knowing that Sora had probably been playing Castle Soul since his arrival an hour or so before.

The brunette whined loudly, kicking anyone who dared touch the game console. "Sora. If you don't let us play Mega Crash Brothers, then I won't let you play any of my video games for a month." Axel threatened. Sora dropped the controller and Demyx snatched it away whilst Xigbar stood to switch the games out.

--Two Hours Later--

"I win again!" Sora shrieked gleefully, leaping up with his hands in the air, a controller clenched in one of them. Demyx stared lifelessly at the television screen whilst Roxas gnawed on his bottom lip. Axel's lips were set in a thin line as he stood up abruplty, chucking the controller down.

"Nicotine break. Now." He growled out. Like a spell had been broken, the whole group immediatly began to stand, save for Roxas, who was watching them in confusion. Axel opened the doors to his balcony, allowing the others to walk out before turning to stare at Roxas in amusement.

"Well? Come on, squirt." Axel motioned to the blonde with his hand and Roxas pushed himself to his feet, hurrying to enter the balcony with the others. Axel closed the door behind himself.

The balcony was relatively large, and by the looks of it, the living room and the kitchen could lead out onto it. There was a lawn chair in front of the door to the kitchen and a chair that Demyx was seated in, a cigarette dangling from lax lips.

Roxas did a double-take, glancing around the balcony to see that he ws the only one without a cancer-stick. Axel was lighting up, taking a deep breath and exhaling the smoke in a large plume. Roxas turned his gaze and had to refrain from grasping his heart in utter shock and betrayal.

"Sora!" The said brother turned to him with raised eyebrows, smoke filtering out of his slightly parted mouth. The brunette let out the breath he'd been holding, nearly blowing the contaminated air right into Roxas's face, had the blonde boy not dodged the attack quite effectively.

"Yeah?" Sora took another drag and Roxas held back the urge to rip the cancerous device out of his elder brother's grasp.

"You do realize that Cloud would brutally murder you if he ever, _ever_ found out that you were smoking, correct?" Sora gave Roxas a mischevious grin, letting out another breath of smoke. He shook his head, leaning to tap out the used ashes off the balcony edge.

"Nah- he'd brutally murder the person who got me into the habit, in which case Axel should start heading for Canada." As the older sibling said this, Axel's face hid a half-smile, his head tilting back and forth and a small, fake laugh of 'hee heh heh' escaping his mouth, cigarette barely held between his loose lips. It was obvouis to them that Axel had no idea who the hell Cloud was, nor did he care.

"..." Roxas cursed, realizing that his effort to stop his brother's evil deeds had been effectively sliced away with a bat of a hand and a threat to his hubby. (in potential) It was time for plan two. "You guys know what kinda shit's in those things, right?"

"Cow uterus?" Demyx called out from the lawn chair. Larxene extracted her cigarette from her mouth and stabbed at the blonde, earning a shriek from Demyx as he tried to smack the still-burning object away from his chest.

"Yeah- Nicotine, tobacco, and all that yummy stuff." Marluxia answered, smoke drifting from his nostrils. Axel and the others nodded with the rosy-haired boy's statement. Roxas sighed, realizing that he'd have to educate these poor saps.

"Yes- those. Did you dumbasses also know it's got shit like rat poison and toilet bowl cleaner?" Roxas inwardly cheered at his vast knowlege of things gained from TRUTH commercials, and gave himself a back pat for being a couch-potato.

Axel's face screwed up, and he glanced at the cigarette held between his fingers, the other hand tucked into his jeans pocket. "..ew.." He muttered. There was a pause, where his statement was echoed by the others, and then a silence. They stared at their cancer-sticks for a moment, until Axel shrugged and raised it to his mouth to take a long drag and then blow smoke out in a series of rings.

Roxas growled in frustration, stamping his foot. "That's not healthy!"

"Sure it is- now I know that I don't have a potty mouth, and if a rat ever crawls into my mouth, it won't last a second!" Demyx crowed, earning an 'amen' from Xigbar and Larxene. Axel's arm slipped itself around Roxas's shoulder, a grin on his face.

"Your body can take more shit than you'd originally assume, got it memorized?" The redhead said, taking a drag from his cigarette and then turning to Roxas. His face edged closer to the blonde, and had Roxas not suddenly remembered that Axel had never released the mouthful of smoke, he'd have kissed Axel without second thought.

Axel sensed his hesitation, a smile coming on his face, lips only centimeters from Roxas's. His mouth parted and a stream of smoke was blown forth, brushing Roxas's face and momentarily causing the shorter teen to clench his eyes shut as they watered. He coughed, pulling away from Axel and blushing when the laughter of his brother, Riku, Demyx, and Marluxia blended in with the redhead's.

Roxas scowled, turning to face the widely smirking teen. Axel's expression was smug, daring Roxas to do something to otherwise prove his humor wrong. The chortling of the others wasn't helping to deter the redhead's ego any, for sure. Axel's lips parted, preparing to speak.

Roxas punched Axel in the throat.

-----

Roxas practically moaned in relief, allowing the heavenly water of his shower to envelope him. The teen tilted his head back, getting his hair thoroughly soaked in preparation to shampoo it.

He and Sora hadn't even left Axel's place until seven-thirty (Roxas was pretty sure they all had defied the laws of physics by cramming that much game time into four and a half hours) and then Sora had forced him to sit at the kitchen table so they could eat dinner together. Afterwards, Roxas had practically leapt up the stairs to his bathroom. He was in dire need of a shower-- he smelled like cigarette smoke. Gross.

The blonde sighed, leaning back and running a hand through his hair to rinse the suds from his locks. Stupid smoking assholes. He hoped their lungs collapsed, or they got testicular cancer or-

Roxas's internal rant was cut short as the jingle of the Power Rangers theme song began to sing merrily from the back pocket of his jeans, which sat in a heap on the bathroom floor. Roxas huffed, pulling back the shower curtain and reaching a dripping arm out to grab his cellphone. As he moved to stand back up, his eyes caught the caller ID.

**_Sex God_**

Roxas raised an eyebrow very, very slowly. A few days earlier, Axel and Demyx had jacked his cellphone and ran off with it, proceeding to add into the contacts list the number of every member in their dysfunctional little group. Including names. Roxas flipped the phone open, cutting off the children's show tune and spoke. "Yes?"

"Hey Roxas!" Axel's voice greeted from the other end of the line. "What's up?"

Roxas leaned forward, curtain gripped tightly in his hand. "I'm in the shower holding a cell phone. How long do you think it'll take before I get electrocuted?" The blonde asked dully, slapping at the nagging urge to grin at the fact that Axel was calling him. There was a rustling noise, and Axel squeaked out,

"You're in...the shower?"

"Yes."

Roxas teetered forward once again as his grip on the phone began to loosen. "Hey Roxas...Is your phone a camera phone?"

"...Why?" The blonde narrowed his eyes suspiciously as he moved to cover himself with the shower curtain out of instinct. Axel let out a nervous laugh.

"Cause...I wanna see what your toilet looks like."

Roxas hung up the phone and tossed it onto his jeans. Yes, he decided. He should definitely change Axel's ringtone.

----

The night had gone by quite nicely, and at 9:15 Roxas found himself sitting on Sora's bed with his brother, the two of them enraptured with a movie named The Quixotic Fairy Tale, about a boy who grew up in a place called Halloween Town, and fell in love with another boy from the human world.

It was Sora's favorite movie, and the brunette had finally managed to drag Roxas into watching the film. There were morbid scenes, which often were smoothed out by adorable child-like scenes between the two main characters. (Shameless whoring for Quixotic Fairy Tale)

_'And everytime we touch, I get this feeling. And evertime we kiss, I swear I can fly-'_ The voice of Cascada's peppy teen-love theme song burst out from Roxas's cell phone as his leg began to jerk with the device's vibrate mode. Sora had the audacity to actually pause the movie and stare at his younger brother as the blonde pulled his cell out of his jean pocket.

Roxas shot Sora a dirty look as he flipped his cell phone open, sighing at the caller ID he'd seen only an hour ago. "Hello?" He said quietly into the reciever, knowing full well who was calling, and why he was hoping the person on the other end didn't make their voice recognizable to Sora- there was only so much teasing and ridicule that Roxas could take in one day.

"Hey Roxas!" Demyx's cheery voice shouted on the other end. This earned a wide-eyed stare from Sora, who mouthed Demyx's name in inquiry, as if wondering why the fuck Roxas would set a cheesy love tune to the blonde's name.

"Demyx! Don't yell in my fucking ear! Sorry Roxas." When Axel spoke, Sora's face turned from one of curiosity, to a knowing nod. Roxas pushed himself up and off of Sora's bed, greeting the two teens as he quietly padded his way out of Sora's room and down the hall to his own.

"Are you both at Axel's house?" He asked- hearing the sounds of video games in the background.

"Nope- three way calling. Hey, go borrow Sora's GameStation and Castle Soul. We're both playing it, so you gotta play it too." Demyx's voice could almost be called demanding, if it weren't for the cheery undertone. Roxas let a sigh escape.

"But I just left his room. Plus, we only have Castle Soul one." He protested gently, not wanting to raise his voice and awaken his parents. There was a moan of disappointment from both Axel and Demyx.

"Come on Roxas. It doesn't matter. Demyx only has number one, too." Axel's plea did not go unheard, and one arguement with Sora and fifteen minutes later, Roxas was seated on his bed, booting up Castle Soul and listening to the voices of his friends bantering with their own video games.

"Jesus! Hit the damn thing! It's right in front of you!" Axel shrieked, and there were sounds of Aros crying out as he was hit with some sort of attack. Roxas moved his controller analog stick to select the new game option, his television having been put on mute.

His new game began to load as Demyx airily stated, "Oh wait, now I have to switch party members so I can pull a monkey out of his ass." Axel's laughter filled the phone line and Roxas couldn't stifle the grin from placing itself on his face.

"Demyx what the he-Fuck! Fucking cars!" Axel roared the last statement so loud that Roxas couldn't help but flinch as he read the instructions to his game. He directed the main character around in a circle, jumping up and down and attempting to memorize which buttons did certain actions.

Roxas opened a chest as Demyx moaned, "Oh god, he's spew- aw, awww his mouth's ejaculating." Roxas's brows furrowed as a disturbed look reached his face, moving Aros towards a doorway and reading the text that popped up. He muttered the words that appeared, continually hitting the X button to try and skip past the boring intro. Axel was shouting at his video game as Demyx made animal noises to accompany his own.

"Jesus Christ Hades!" Axel squawked, and there were sounds of evil laughter filtering through the phone line. Roxas stood, placing the controller on the bed and walking over to the console to poke the restart button with his toe. Fuck new games. Sora had at least four games already on the card, he was just going to play the lowest level one.

Demyx shrieked, and there was a thud, as if he'd fallen off of his bed, followed by a surprised exclamation of, "Aw Jesus! A huge boulder just rolled out like a freakin' Indiana Jones movie!" Roxas loaded up one of Sora's games, watching the memory bar turn red as the game's information was retrieved.

"Agh! Stop fucking disappearing! Stop it!" Axel hissed, and Roxas momentarily thought the redhead had been talking to him- nearly asking why Axel thought he was disappearing, and then realizing they were on the phone. He shut his open mouth. He made Aros run around for a bit before putting down the controller as Axel and Demyx continued to babble. He stood, stretching fractionally and shuffling out of his room.

"Eeh, it's the stupid jizzing face!...Have you seen my submarine?" Demyx cooed, his voice purring and sending shivers through Roxas's ear. Axel snarled at Demyx in a tone that stated 'if you do that again, I will fucking rip your nuts off MacGuyver style.' (which meant using a pencil, a rubber band, and a wad of gum)

"So Roxas- are you Atheist like Sora? He told me you- Oh my God! Where'd it go? Augh! Stop fucking shooting me!" The redhead interrupted himself with another bewildered shout at his videogame. Roxas assumed he was still listening, and so decided to answer his question.

"I'm agnostic. You know what that-"

"Aw! Douche-dick!" Demyx's snarled stopped Roxas's reply, and the blonde sighed in frustration, earning an apology from the older blonde. Sora's head popped into the room, quietly telling him that dessert was ready. It was supposed to be blackberry cobbler, from what Sora had told him earlier when he'd explained that he felt like treating his younger brother to something tasty.

"Dinner's ready? Okay." Roxas paused the game and then placed his controller down, standing up as Axel yelled angrily.

"Jesus fucking christ! Hades just jabbed me in the eyes!" Sora gave him a perturbed look and Roxas mouthed the name of Castle Soul, which earned an all-knowing nod from his older brother. Apparently screaming at the game was a common thing for players of Castle Soul- or maybe it was just Sora's group of mentally deranged companions.

"It's a maze of jizzing faces!" Demyx's wail nearly made Roxas bleed from the ears as he descended the stairs and into the living room to cross through to the kitchen. "I'm gonna call Chuck Norris..." This, the exuberant blonde muttered angrily under his breath. Roxas padded into the kitchen.

"Yeah, Chuck Norr- OH, WHAT NOW HADES?" Axel roared- and Roxas heard a door slamming open and Reno yelling at Axel to shut the fuck up before their landlord came and stabbed him in the shins with her cane again. Roxas smiled, looking at Sora, who sat at the table with a bowl in front of him, waiting for Roxas to come and sit with him.

"Bitch got owned?" Demyx asked Axel.

"Bitch got owned." The redhead confirmed. Roxas made his way over to the stove, staring at a pan full of blue and yellow... stuff.

"If you even call this dessert..." He grumbled, lifting the fork that was in the pan and shuffling its contents around. "_The fuck is this shit_?" It was barely above a hiss, and he held the reciever to his lips so that only the duo on the phone could hear him. Axel started to laugh, as did Demyx. Roxas began to scoop the.. shit.. onto a plate. Demyx's laughter died down first.

"A hahaawwww, I freaking died. Now I have to go take a shit in a fit of rage." There was a scraping sound, then a rustling one of the reciever hitting fabric, meaning Demyx had placed his phone on the bed. Roxas sat down next to Sora, informing Axel that he was still listening, but he was going to eat dessert, to which the redhead acknowledged quietly, playing his game with a bit less insanity without Demyx's presence.

Roxas was surprised when the cobbler ended up not tasting like ass, as he'd originally assumed it would. He gave Sora a smile and scooped some of it onto his fork, eating quietly as Axel continued to yell random things at his video game.

"I just won my tournament." Axel's smug and slightly surprised voice proclaimed, followed by the scratchy rustling of fabric and an irritated squeak from Demyx, signaling the blonde had picked up the phone once more.

"And don't you feel sexy?" The said blonde shot back patronizingly, battle sounds resuming on his end of the line. "You always have to win, to be better than everyo-" Demyx abruptly cut himself off with a loud screech. "**FUCK**! **_Aladdin, you douche!_** Not me! He just like, assraped me with his sword!" The mohawked boy yelled indignantly.

Roxas choked on his last mouthful of cobbler, his hacking coughs being accompanied by Axel's laughter. Roxas batted away Sora's hand as the brunette attempted to beat his back. He grabbed his brother's glass of milk and took a slow gulp from it, washing down the food and coughing lightly before taking a deep breath.

Roxas ignored Sora's mourns over his lost milk, standing and making his way over to the sink and dumping his plate and fork into it, shifting the phone to his right hand as he headed for the stairs.

"A new episode was added. Great. Where the fuck was it added?" Axel grumbled as Roxas shut himself in his room once more, flopping onto his bed and picking up his discarded controller.

"Aw, jizz face turned yellow. He's piss face now." Demyx informed sadly, as if he sympathized with the thing. Roxas resumed his game and squinted against the blindingly white sandy beach Aros was parading around on. There was a crinkling sound, and munching filled the phone. "Where the hell am I supposed to go?" Demyx asked around a mouthful of...whatever he was eating.

"Did you go to the treasure room yet?" Axel asked, followed by a chuckle from the aforementioned redhead, "I'm a lion, and I'm bounding- I'm bounding across the savannah because I'm a lion-" He said, drawing out the words 'lion' and 'bounding' as if to further annoy anyone who happened to be listening. That, or he was just being a dumbass.

"...Is there any point to this?" Roxas idly muttered, sighing as he got his ass handed to him by Kiru with a wooden sword for the tenth time. Stupid pretty boy bastard.

"Life is pointless, my dear Roxas. You'll fi-" Whatever else Axel had to say was lost as Demyx interrupted him with a growl. "He's in a fucking rainbow bubble! I hate you Jafar! I hate you so much! You know why? Because you can fly and I can't!" The older blonde boy howled in frustration. Roxas raised an eyebrow, imagining Demyx happily floating around in a rainbow-colored bubble. He quickly slapped the image away from his mind. It was much too realistic for his tastes.

"It's over between us, Jafar! I don't love you anymore!" Demyx continued, drowning out Axel's mumbling about elephant graveyards. Roxas narrowed his eyes as the annoying girl that always stuck to Aros and Kiru began talking and giggling over something- oblivious to the fact that her two male companions were engaged in a game of footsie. Roxas felt the distinct urge to gauge her eyes out with a spork bubbling up in his chest.

"Fuck this. I don't wanna be a lion." Axel suddenly announced. Demyx screeched something incoherent about a rainbow snakepod, and Roxas sighed, wondering how he'd gotten himself into this situation.

----

Two hours filled with random conversations and unrelated shrieking later, Roxas found himself in much the same position, except for the face that he had crawled under his covers some time ago and could now barely keep his eyes open.

"It's only eleven thirty, you pansy." Axel replied scornfully once the blonde boy had announced that he was beginning to fall asleep and had to get off the phone soon. Roxas blinked, forcing himself to focus on the game consule sitting on his floor- which he'd given up on and turned off long ago.

"Fuck you. I woke up early this morning." He shot back defensively, the phone resting on his face speaker phone turned on so that he no longer had to hold onto the device, cuddling up beneath his quilt,.

"Oh shit, I can fall into the lava, can't I?" Demyx piped up before any further taunting could be exchanged. Roxas realized that maybe resting the cell phone on his face wasn't such a great idea because it was starting to get pretty fuckin' hot.

"You can't. Just get the bird." Axel corrected. Roxas yawned and the cell phone slid off his cheek and hit the bed. He grumbled as Axel complained about Roxas's inhability to become noctournal, putting the phone back on his cheek and closing his eyes.

"I'm tryin' to get the damn bird. Get away from the firey balls of doom! Aw! Buttery testicles!" Demyx's squawk earned a dopey smile from Roxas, imagining things that normally wouldn't be appropriate for his fifteen year old mind, but had recently become more common as the night progressed. The same could be said for the provocative images of Axel that randomly popped up in his mind's eye.

"Roxas? Roooxxasss!" God, Axel was beggining to sound more like Demyx the later they talked on the phone. Roxas managed a grunt that resembled 'shtfuckupm'sleepn.'

"Oh what now? Hop aboard the man train! Woot Woot!" Demyx crowed. It was then that Roxas put his foot down. He prepared to announce his departure when Demyx snarled, "No! Your'e dead, get down! Die!"

"You guys. I'm going to bed. I need sleep. I don't do late nights." The complaints of Axel and Demyx fell upon deaf ears as Roxas simply shut his phone, placing it onto his night stand and rolling over to snuggle sleepily into bed. A small grin was on his face as he recalled the longest, most laid back conversation he'd ever held with Axel.

---

Click. Whiiiirrrr. Flash.

Roxas's eyes snapped open and he sat up, staring at the blue haze of his TV screen. The light to the gamestation was switched to green, indicating that it was on. Roxas pushed his comforter down, moving to turn his television off when it started.

A clatter, and then a scratching sound. The first player controller shot up into the air, hovering. It was followed by the second player controller, both still connected to the GameStation. A low growling sound was coming from the console and Roxas's eyes went wide. The controllers began moving up and down in erratic motions as a chilling demonic speech filtered from the gamestation.

"_Nnnrrgh. PLAY WITH ME_."

--

Roxas shot awake with a gasp, staring at the ceiling. He turned his head to see the GameStation, turned off and sitting peacefully on the ground.

"Godammit." He breathed out. Roxas stared hesitantly at the GameStation, then at his closed bedroom door. As quietly as he could muster, the blond threw his blanket off and slipped out of bed, tiptoeing over to the game console and kneeling in front of it. He grabbed the device's cords that were hooked to the t.v. and yanked them loose before picking the entire thing up, controllers and all, and padding over to his door.

Roxas silently tugged his door open, depositing the GameStation into the hallway and eyeing it suspiciously one last time before firmly shutting his door. He shuffled back to his bed, flopping down onto it with a weary sigh.

* * *

**YukaYuka's words of wisdom:**

BOYSEX is clearly the best and most popular plot, and should be the foundations of all good fanfiction... /end political speech

-

To all of you wondering what's going on with Demyx, he's **_not_** getting abused by his parents.

And Zemyx fans :DDD ahahahahaha...God, you're gonna hate us...D:

The phone conversation up there that probably annoyed and disturbed the readers more that it amused them was not merely random, made up shit. Every single strange thing shrieked from Demyx and Axel was actually a conversation between Random Kyuubi and Psycho Rooster. The two writers were on the phone one night, PR playing Kingdom Hearts 1 while RK played KH2. Everything Demyx screeched was what PR screeched, and everything Axel shouted was what RK shouted.

**Random Kyuubi:** Chapter three, folks! Sorry we're past our one month mark, but PR's been in the middle of moving to a new house, so there hasn't been much time for writing- hence the crappiness of this chapter.

**Psycho Rooster:** But not to fear! We pretty much have chapter four planned out, which means we'll gleefully write it for a little while, then get burned out and become lazy asses, thus not posting it for another month. D:

**Random Kyuubi:** But review anyway- who knows, PR might get her ass in gear...-gets slapped repeatedly-


	5. Azure

**The Carmine Complex**

_The BirdFox Hybrid Productions_

**Author's Notes:** This chapter is dedicated to our good friend Tara (**StrawberryQuincy**) Who has suffered through some hard times in her life. Today is her birthday- and we'd like to wish her a happy one by posting this chapter of Carmine Complex in her honor. We love you, Tara, and we hope that this makes you feel better. May your father rest in peace.

**NOTE:**

**RK: **Sorry to everyone who's read this chapter in the last five hours, but PR edited it and posted it while I was at school. I came home and found in the posted chapter that not only did PR completely miss _my_ typos, she created more of her own. So this is the re-edited chapter I just re-posted. But PR tried her best. She really did. And she wrote a hell of a lot. So all is forgiven.

* * *

**Azure. _adjective _1.** of or having a light, purplish shade of blue, like that of a clear and unclouded sky.

* * *

"Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey!" the sickeningly butter-coated cheerful voice of Axel's elder brother stirred the redhead into the waking world. Axel's eyes opened for a total of two seconds to take in the sight of a fully dressed Reno, complete with a retarded, shit-eating grin and goggles. Axel stared at him, and then groaned and rolled over, burying his head into his pillow in an attempt to drown out his brother's gleeful crowing. 

"Th' hell, Reno?" he muttered, pulling his comforter up to his chin and hoping that his brother wouldn't try to pull the-

"You're gonna be late for school!" Reno announced, grabbing hold of Axel's covers and merrily tearing them away from the aforementioned teen. _Dammit._

Axel immediately curled in on himself, no longer enveloped in the heavenly warmth of his bed sheets. He squinted his eyes open and made a desperate grab for the blanket in his brother's evil, mentally challenged grasp. "It's _Saturday_, fucktard!" he roared, snagging the end of his comforter and tugging at it, though it was to no avail, as Reno's grip did not relenquish. The statement was met with silence, and Axel sighed irritably.

"There's no school on Saturday." He elaborated, remembering that Reno worked every day of the week, and, well, it was Reno. Enough said.

Reno's mouth formed an 'o' of understanding. "Ah... right. I knew that." The older redhead draped the blanket he was holding back over his brother and stepped away ever so slowly, just in case Axel decided to lash out. The little bugger _was_ glaring at him pretty viciously- no fangs, but Reno was pretty sure Axel had a pair hidden in his dresser or something.

Reno snatched up the bag at his feet and slung it over his shoulder, taking hasty backwards steps out of the room. "I gotta go to work, be back at seven…Love ya!" the man made sure to firmly shut the door behind him. Just as a precaution.

Axel eyed his clock and groaned once more, flopping down and throwing the comforter over his head. Why the hell did Reno have to wake him up at seven-fucking-thirty in the morning? On a _Saturday_? He'd stayed up well past midnight on the phone with Demyx after Roxas had hung up, and he was fucking tired.

…One of these days, he was going to slip cyanide into Reno's kool-aid thermos. And he was going to laugh.

Axel rolled over, squeezing his eyes shut and willing his mind to submit to the sweet haze of sleep again. Less than a minute later, he flipped back over and tried the same routine. He rolled back and forth a few more times before giving in and sitting up with a growl, his hair officially sticking every single way known to man. (kinda like a porcupine)

"Talk about having an internal clock from hell." The redhead hissed out, though it was more of a grumble, since he had not the energy to muster up an accurate hiss. He threw his covers off and slipped out of bed, swaying for a minute until he regained equilibrium and padded out of his room.

The small kitchen was met with its usual round of curses as Axel got into a war with the coffee machine to make a fresh pot of the aforementioned drink. Every night, he swore the coffee machine snuck a bottle of superglue out of their random shit drawer and sealed its lid shut so that Axel had to bash it against the fucking stove to get it open and pour water inside. Bastard. It really thought it was going to win? Heh. stupid inferior technology.

The redhead turned away, satisfied when the appliance started wheezing like a dying animal and drip-dispensing the caffeinated beverage. Every morning, Axel reminded himself to bum money off of Reno to get a new one, and every night, when Reno came home, Axel forgot.

Pleased with himself, the redhead pried the refrigerator door open with his foot and grabbed the milk carton, dropping it on the counter and letting the fridge slam shut with a solid _thunk_.

Axel rummaged through their cereal cabinet and pulled out a box of _Rooster Flakes_, briefly wondering if he should make eggs. He regarded the cereal box, staring at the picture of a girl with glasses and a psychotic grin on her face, and shrugged.

Nah. He was lazy.

He poured himself a bowl of cereal and a piping hot cup of caffeine, leaving the cereal box on the counter as he ambled into the living room and plopped down on the couch, setting his coffee on the side table.

"They're mooore than good...they're gay." Axel mumbled the _Rooster Flakes_ commercial theme song to himself, digging under the left couch cushion and fishing out the remote. He flipped the television on and settled back with his bowl, ready for about an hour of Saturday morning cartoons.

Hell yes.

"_I'm prepared, I'm prepared, I'm prepared, **I'M PREPARED**!" _The voice that reminded Axel of nails on a chalkboard reached the redhead's ears and Axel winced._ Ew._ He hated Loofajoe.

He grabbed the remote and flipped a channel up, landing on some paid-programming _'Get buns of steel in a week!!'_ infomercial. Blech.

Axel changed the channel again. And again and again. It was a failed mission from the start. There was nothing on television Saturday mornings except cartoons, and since the current airing cartoons were crap, he was destined to channel flip until at least ten.

Axel finally settled on the _'Good Morning Wherever the Hell You Are'_ show, finding it to be the lesser of two boredoms. At the very least, he could watch people scream and wave around idiotic signs, trying to get on camera as the weather man waddled about, attempting to be funny and failing miserably.

One of the blonde, botoxed hosts was currently in an interview with an author, talking about the author's new book, _'Counterclockwise.'_

"Hm." Axel grunted, shoveling a large bite of cereal into his mouth. It sounded vaguely familiar. He continued to eat until the bowl was only left with random floating bits of soggy flakes that tasted like mush, and placed it down on the small table next to the couch..

The interview was followed by some guy demonstrating the different ways to make barbequed ribs, and Axel lost interest. He switched the television off, tossing the remote down and falling onto the length of the couch with a dramatic sigh. His cereal was gone, his coffee mug was empty, and he was bored as all hell. He had nobody to watch a movie with, he didn't feel like playing videogames, and it was too early to terrorize Roxas...

Axel sat up quickly, his thought process coming to a halt.

...Or was it?

---------

_'I'm a little Pyro and I like to burn stuff. Toss the gas and strike a match, watch the fucker go!'_

Sora's bare arm reached out from under the quilt, slapping at his nightstand a good four times before his fingers wrapped around his cell phone, dragging it back under the covers much like a predator would drag its still-screaming prey into a bush.

"Nnnhabbashmabba." Sora mutter-groaned into the phone, his fingers barely able to grip the small device correctly. He heard someone breathe in deeply behind him, the hands around his torso tightening their grip as a chin rested itself on his shoulder.

"_Hey Sora! Is you front door unlocked?_" Axel's awake and ever-so-cheery voice piped up from the other line. Sora grumbled something incoherent into the phone, and there was a pause. "_I'm taking that as a no... is your window unlocked?_"

"Ihhh... ysss..." As he hissed into the phone, a set of lips began to press slow kisses along Sora's neck and shoulder, along with a hand wandering the expanse of his bare chest and a leg slipping over top of both of his own.

"Sora, who the fuck is calling this early?" Riku muttered into Sora's neck, taking in a long, sleepy breath through his nose. Sora mumbled a reply that could possibly be translated as Axel's name- if you spoke Ethiopian. Riku groaned, turning his head to rub his face against the brunette's shoulder and neck, pressing himself up further against the smaller teen.

"_So, your window's open? That's good_." Sora was far too tired to realize that when Axel said something was good, it was inevitably bad, and most likely foreboding. Riku's hand slid down the expanse of Sora's flat torso, resting just below his belly button with fingers spread out and his thumb idly rubbing faintly tanned skin.

On the phone, Axel muttered his goodbyes, along with something about using his window in a little bit, but Sora ignored it, closing his cell and placing it back on the nightstand. (though it barely hit the corner, and ended up clattering to the ground, much to Sora's dismay)

"Now I can't get back to sleep." Riku muttered against his boyfriend's shoulder, kissing it gently. Sora inhaled deeply and rolled over, facing Riku to slip his arm about the older boy's neck. Riku's own arms trailed across Sora's stomach and hips, hooking together around the small of the brunette's back and tugging him close.

"Mm, then I guess we'll have to do something to help us wake up." Sora murmured, his closed eyes opening into slits so that he could locate the silver-haired teen's mouth, placing a languid kiss to it. Riku pulled back just enough to grin and chuckle against Sora's lips.

"I like how you think." And then he kissed Sora again, his hands unclasping so that one of them could rub Sora's back as the brunette began to twine Riku's hair about his fingers.

They continued on like that for a good fifteen minutes, until there was a loud scraping sound against Sora's far wall. Riku pulled away from Sora long enough to grumble, placing a chaste kiss to the brunette's lips and then crawling over him to get out of bed, grabbing his jeans off the floor and slipping them on as the scraping became louder.

Riku stumbled over to the window, opening it and peering down. (the screen had disappeared exactly two days after he and Sora had gotten together).

"Axel! What the hell are you doing?" He called out, squinting his eyes against the early morning light. The redhead looked up from where he was climbing the trellis up to Sora's room. A smile alit his one hundred percent AWAKE face, and Riku recieved an exuberant wave.

"Hey Riku! Sora said I could climb in the window to go harass Roxas since you guys want the house to yourselves while Sora's mom and dad are out on another business trip!" Riku stared at Axel for a good long minute while the redhead cursed and struggled his way up, and then, Riku turned to stare at Sora for a good, long, ten seconds.

"You asked Axel to get rid of Roxas so we could screw all day?" Sora stared back at Riku with sleepy recognition, looking utterly confused for a minute as Axel's head popped up in the window.

"Yeah he did, right Sora?" That seemed to knock the brunette's brain back into working and he nodded feverently at the both of them, pulling the comforter up to hide his lower regions from Axel and smiling at Riku. So what if it was a little white lie? Either way, Sora was going to get laid.

Riku sighed and allowed Axel entrance. Axel fell into the room, his shins and feet sticking out of the window as the teen struggled to get back up, grunting and cursing for a minute until he stood straight, fixing his clothes and hair. "Thanks guys!" And Axel bounded out of the room.

Riku slipped back into bed and pulled Sora into a hug, chuckling to himself at the redhead's antics. "He really likes your brother." The silver haired teen murmured into Sora's collarbone. Sora nodded, returning the embrace and allowing a smile to adorn his childish features.

"Yeah, and I think Roxas likes him too. They'll be good for each other." The brunette yawned, pulling away from Riku to cover his mouth in the process, his thoughts mulling over the duo before he snuggled back into his boyfriend's arms.

-------------

Dreams, Roxas summarized, had three categories. Very good, very bad, and very, very weird. Now, humans were most likely to be thrown into the realm of very bad dreams, and even more likely with the very, very weird dreams. Rarely, if ever, one could say they had a very good dream.

Roxas was having a very good dream. His dream was about Axel. And it was a shockingly clean dream, because if it wasn't, then it would have been a very bad dream. No, it was a very good dream for a number of reasons. There was no Sora there to embarrass him, no Demyx there to annoy the hell out of them, _nobody_. Just Axel and Roxas. They were doing good, clean things, and having good, clean fun.

Mostly.

_"Ooh, Roxas. Your hair is so silky soft." Dream Axel cooed as they sat in a giant olympic-sized bath tub with bubbles and rubber duckies with mohawks floating around them. Roxas smiled as Dream Axel's long fingers ran though his hair, spewing forth compliments here and there about the texture and elegance in which Roxas's hair flipped up to one side._

_A fairy floated by, one that looked remarkably like Sora, and giggled at them before a miniature devil shot past and grabbed onto Fairy Sora. A miniature devil that resembled Riku. Fairy Sora squealed as Miniature Devil Riku cackled evilly and began to molest Fairy Sora._

_Roxas ignored the Fairy harassment- too engrossed in having his hair washed by Dream Axel. The redhead's hands trailed down Roxas's neck, to his bare back, before one rested on his left hip. Dream Axel's lips pressed into Roxas's ear and suddenly his fingers dug into Roxas's side- tickling him._

_"Axel…heh…Stop it…" Roxas muttered, barely able to contain the chuckle that rose forth. The blonde teen grinned despite himself, squirming away from Dream Axel's touch- though loving it all the same. The lips against his ear kissed the cartilidge softly before trailing down to his neck and placing a soft kiss to the barely tanned skin there._

"Aw, why?" _A voice, clearly amused, replied._

_"Cause…it tickles…" Roxas mumbled, creasing his brow slightly and batting the hand away when it began to squeeze even more firmly, causing a giggle to rise up into the blonde's throat. The water around them began to solidify- becoming a sea of blankets. Roxas found himself wrapped up in them._

_Fairy Sora squealed, held tight in Miniature Devil Riku's grasp and trying to push away the puckered lips that were aimed for his cherubic face. With a pop and poof of air, they were gone. _

_The Demyx Duckies squawked and also dissapeared into a plume of white smoke. _

_Axel faded away from behind him, though the hand on his hip still stayed firm._

"What'll you do if I don't?"

_Roxas, eyes still unopen, turned to save his face from the blindingly bright sun that began to shine from an unknown area of the blanket ocean. Yeah, the sun definitely hadn't been that bright before. The sun hadn't been out at all before. Actually, it felt like he was really wa-_

A sudden, desperate sinking feeling weighted Roxas's chest down, and he cracked his eyes open, praying that what he thought was happening couldn't be happening.

A mass blur of red slowly came into focus, revealing Axel's porcupine-worthy spikes and his obviously clothed body. The older teen's brilliant green eyes were brimming with amusement, his teeth displayed in a shit-eating grin.

Oh God.

Roxas shot backward with an undignified scream, effectively cracking the back of his skull into his headboard. The acute throbbing in the blond's head momentarily took a backseat to utter shock, speechlessness, and mortification.

"W-what are you doing here?" Roxas stuttered, scrambling to cover up his half-nude body with his blanket. Oh god, Axel was in his room, and oh God, Axel had heard him _dreaming_ about him, and oh God, Axel was witnessing him with bedhead and nothing but boxers on and-

"I just came to wake you up." Axel replied simply, his grin growing wider. Roxas- in an attempt to battle his imminent need to start hyperventilating- took a deep breath. Perhaps this was also a dream. A very vivid and realistic one, but still a dream.

"Why?" He asked, clenching the covers in his fists and then tugging them all the way up until they rested just under his chin, giving the blonde a look that resembled a freshly molested and modest virgin.

Axel waved a flippant hand, standing up from his perch on Roxas's bed. "I'm taking you out so we can wake all the other kiddies up and go somewhere." The redhead informed nonchalantly, as if he did this every weekend. (which, quite possibly, could be true.)

Roxas glanced at the digital clock on his nightstand. "...At eight thirty? On a _Saturday?_ How did you even get in here, anyway?" Roxas directed a skeptically raised eyebrow toward his companion. He was starting to somewhat get a grip on his composure, and he didn't much appreciate being tickled awake at 8:30 on a _Saturday,_ even if it** was** by Axel.

Axel shrugged. "Oh, Sora just let me in...and yes, at eight thirty on a Saturday. That's why we're going out to wake _them_ up, Roxie." The teen elaborated, not bothering to hide the smirk that arose on his face as he turned and headed for the doorway. "Go ahead and get ready, I'll wait downstairs."

Roxas was left sitting there, staring in a vaguely dumbstruck fashion at his doorway until Axel poked his head back into the room, almost as an afterthought. "And it warms my heart to know that I'm so hot, being with me during the day just isn't enough."

The last thing Axel heard as he dissapeared through the doorway was an utterly mortified groan from Roxas that seemed to suddenly become muffled by his pillow.

--------------

Roxas was sure that wake-up had been one of the few times in his life where he had gone through such a suffocating range of emotions in under five minutes. After Axel had traipsed downstairs and leaving Roxas to wallow in his own horrification, the blonde had spent at least three minutes fretting like a girl over what shirt to wear before he pointed out to himself that he was fretting like a girl and just threw on a set of clothes.

He then hurriedly brushed his teeth and washed his face, spending a good ten minutes battling a ferocious duel with his hairbrush before stumbling downstairs, telling himself that he'd already kept Axel waiting too long.

Roxas found the aformentioned redhead in the kitchen, and he wasn't alone. Sora was seated comfortably at the table, inhaling a few burritos and Riku sat beside him, elbows propped on the table and a sour look on his face.

Roxas didn't even spare the duo a second glance. He was well used to going to sleep with Riku _not_ being there, and then waking up to Riku eating breakfast with Sora at the kitchen table, or him lounging on their sofa with the brunette, watching cartoons. It was actually a relatively common occurence- considering the duo's parents were gone during the day; out working like most parents often did.

Axel grinned up at Roxas, and the blonde barely registered the throwing motion before an apple went flying at his head. Roxas ducked, arms flailing up as the apple sailed past him and thudded against the kitchen cabinet, smearing apple guts all over its wooden surface in the process.

Roxas stared at the cabinet as Axel piped up, "You were supposed to catch that." It was obvious by the beanpole's tone of voice that he found it highly entertaining to see Roxas flip his arms about like a headless chicken before he ducked away from the homicidal fruit. Roxas turned back around ever so slowly to level Axel with one of his 'VENGANCE' glares that he oh-so-often pinned Sora with.

Axel blew him a kiss and Roxas's glare softened into a look of irritation.

"So, cream puff- are you ready to go?" Axel asked as he sat up in the chair he was currently reclining it. Roxas realized that Axel seemed a hell of a lot shorter sitting down because he practically hunched when he sat. When Axel stood, Roxas was reminded of how horridly short he was, and jutted his bottom lip out to show the redhead that he was displeased at this utter subliminal bragging of _'hahhah! Roxas is a midget!'_

Axel's hand plopped onto the top of his head and ruffled Roxas's previously painstakingly combed hair, bringing back those dreaded cowlicks once more. "As cute as you are first thing in the morning- we have to pick up Demyx and the others." Axel's hand grasped gently to Roxas's skull, using it to guide the blonde out of the kitchen.

"Bye Roxas! Remember! Back-seat sex is fun, as long as you use condoms!"

Roxas made a mental note to stab his brother in the dick with the brunette's own videogame disk that he would so graciously break into jagged pieces himself whenever he got back home.

-------------

It turned out that Demyx lived just a little ways away from Roxas, and further from Axel. It was the run-down part of the suburbs, with dingy children and their pet dogs running around in the yards. Broken fences and overgrown yards, with houses that were littered with chipped paint and rusty pipes- broken windows with duct tape covering the holes, and paper towels as makeshift drapes. The car stopped a few feet from the driveway of a two story house that looked a bit worse for wear.

Axel put the vehicle into park and turned to Roxas. "Alright. Knocking on the door is an absolute no-no. So we're going to climb that step ladder hanging of the window." Axel pointed to the house, and after a moment of searching, Roxas's eyes caught sight of a rope ladder dangling out of a window in the second story. He couldn't quite tell, but it seemed like the ladder was tethered to the bed or something else inside of the room.

Roxas turned back to Axel. "You're... kidding me... right?" Axel shook his head with a wry grin, turning to unbuckle his seatbelt and then get out of the car. Roxas followed suit, and nearly slammed the door when Axel hissed at him not to.

"Just leave it open." The redhead insisted, stepping around the front of the SUV and approaching Roxas, placing a hand onto the small of his back and guiding him up towards the house. Their short trip was remarkably quiet, as if Axel's mouth had suddenly been zipped shut by magic.

Axel turned to Roxas when they reached the side of the house, one long arm reaching out to grasp the rope ladder. "I'll go in first- just follow me." Roxas nodded and Axel turned around and began to climb, struggling only fractionally, much to Roxas's surprise as he followed his companion's wiggling (and utterly desirable) bum.

Axel stopped at the top of the window, turning to shush any tittering Roxas might have thought to spew forth, and climbed onto the windowsill, swaying for a moment before leaping in.

There was a shriek, and Roxas's head managed to pop into the window to see Axel sitting atop a wildly struggling body hidden beneath a ratty quilt. He recognized Demyx's voice as soon as the bundle began to shout. "Stop! Stop! I didn't do anything!"

Axel wrenched the comforter away from Demyx's head and the blonde gasped for a minute before his eyes caught sight of his best friend perched on his stomach. Wide eyes narrowed, and for the first time, Demyx looked utterly pissed.

"Jesus Axel! I thought you were Lexaeus!" The normally bubbly teen hissed, and Axel looked apologetic for a moment, his hand reaching out Demyx's window to help Roxas in.

"I got you a present!" Axel replied with a smile, and Roxas wondered if maybe falling out the window wasn't such a bad idea. Then again, when Demyx's sleepy eyes widened and a squeal erupted forth, Roxasn't wasn't sure he **had** to wonder. Demyx lunged at him, and they nearly went flying out of the window if Axel hadn't caught Demyx by the back of the shirt and pulled them both inside and onto the bed.

"Oh my God. I think I just saw my life flash before my eyes." Roxas blurted out, his head being smushed into Demyx's chest. Axel's laughter helped to calm the younger teen's racing heart and he relaxed somewhat. When Demyx released him, the group chatted for a moment until the sound of heavy footsteps reached their ears.

Both Axel and Demyx froze for a second before they shot into action. Axel scrambled off of the bed, grabbing Roxas's wrist as Demyx grasped at his blinds, pulling them down until they hid the rope that entered the window and dissapeared between the wall and his bed, muttering "Shit shit shit shit." all the while.

Roxas had no time to protest when Axel shoved him into Demyx's somewhat messy closet, pulling the sliding doors shut almost completely- leaving them open a fraction so that Roxas wouldn't be completely enshrouded in darkness. The door slammed open just as Axel whirled around, and Roxas squinted through the crack in the closet- shifting to get a better view.

In the doorway, stood a man probably in his early to mid-twenties with a broad chin and scraggly, dirty blonde hair. The man clenched his fists, fury written all over his face. "Why are you screaming! Didn't I tell you to keep it the fuck down last night?! Do-" He cut himself off as Axel approached, standing next to Demyx, his stance tense.

"What the hell are you doing here?" The man hissed.

"I'm picking Demyx up for swim practice. Unlike some dumbfucks, he actually has a life outside of being a douchebag." As Axel spoke, with one finger jabbing in the man's direction, Demyx's shaking hands were waving at Axel to try and shush him- even though Axel only batted those same hands away. The man sneered, stepping forward, arm raised to lash out at Axel whenever Demyx stepped in between them.

Roxas's hands clapped over his mouth- muffling his gasp when a muscled arm snapped out, connecting with Demyx's face and sending him flying to the side. The blonde cried out, hitting the bed before sliding off of it, clutching his face with both hands and curling up into a ball.

"You fucking asshole!" Axel roared, leaping forward to try and hit the man. His thin wrists were grabbed and squeezed with such a ferocity that Axel held back a shout of pain, legs trembling and a hiss escaping as he tried to free his arms. "Let me go!" Axel snarled, wrenching his arms to and fro until the man's eyes twitched and he released the redhead, stepping back, his upper lip pulled back into a sneer before he left, slamming the door behind him.

Roxas pushed at the sliding door until it gave way- rushing out into the room and to Demyx's side, where Axel hovered, trying to pull the blonde's hands down from his cheek. The look that Axel shot Roxas clearly stated that they would talk about this later.

It took a few moments for them to help Demyx to his feet, and the blonde ushered them both out of his room via the window, stating that he would be out soon enough once he was dressed and had his swim bag ready. Both teenagers were reluctant to leave, but they did; climbing out the window and down the ladder.

Roxas didn't speak as they entered the car, sliding into the passenger side and watching Axel do the same on the driver's side. He waited, watching Axel stick the keys into the ignition. Soon enough, the redhead began to speak.

"Lexaeus wasn't always like that- Demyx's brother... He used to be real nice, back when we were kids; middle school, I mean. It all got shot to hell in the beginning of seventh grade." Axel sighed, leaning his head back to rest it against the seat, staring into the roof. "He got hit by a car... That's how it started."

Roxas's brows furrowed, and he moved to buckle his seatbelt. "How.. did it happen?"

"Me and Demyx were being dumbasses. We were playing chicken with the cars out on this street." As if to accentuate his statement, a truck shot past, shaking the SUV just the smallest bit, "We'd run out into the road, watch the car hit the brakes and swerve- then jump back onto the sidewalk. We were so fucking stupid back then." Axel laughed dryly, turning his head and idly gazing out the driver's side window.

"Demyx.. he tripped. And the old lady in the carm just couldn't brake fast enough. Lexaeus came flying out of the house like a bat outta hell. _Threw_ Demyx off the road...But Lex- he wasn't fast enough though. That thing sent him flying." Roxas's eyes went wide and he clenched his fists as Axel's fingers began to lightly drum the steering wheel.

"We don't know why, or how it happened. That hit knocked something loose that day- Lex turned into a monster. Hitting everything and anything. Sometimes he does things to Dem that you just don't _do_ to your little brother. But... every now and then- he'll be just like the old Lexaeus, nice as all hell.. but most of the time he's not." Roxas took in a deep breath, trying to imagine any of these things that Axel described, being done by Cloud- but he couldn't. It was like there was too much of a good person in Cloud to ever lay a hand on either Roxas or Sora.

"Demyx blames himself for it. It's why he doesn't fight back." Axel murmured, and Roxas attempted to calm his fidgeting hands, eyes turning to the taller teen beside him.

"Why...don't his parents do anything about it?" True, Roxas hadn't seen Demyx's parents...maybe he didn't live with his parents? Was he in a situation like Axel's?

The redhead's eyes narrowed slightly, his hands slowing their movements and coming to grip the steering wheel. "They act like there's nothing wrong with Lexaeus." he practically growled. There was a scraping sound and Roxas turned to see Demyx slowly climbing out of his window with a blue gym bag dangling from the crook of his elbow.

"It's fucking unbelievable. I mean, they know it's happening, Lex'll beat on Demyx right in front of them...but they just ignore it. And they have the goddamn nerve to get mad at Demyx all the times he's tried to tell them..." Axel sighed, closing his eyes briefly before reopening them, the anger in his voice replaced by a certain weariness. He turned his head until the both of them were watching Demyx jump the last foot and land on the grass, teetering and then falling onto his behind.

"I hate Lexaeus for what he does to Demyx, but I hate Demyx's parents even more because they don't do anything about it."

The mood in the car was a solemn one as Axel reached forward and twisted the keys, starting the car as Demyx approached, opening the door and sliding in.

"Hey- sorry about that. He just woke up, so I had to go and make him a bowl of cereal before I left." The older blonde said lightly, strapping himself in with a click. Roxas turned to give Demyx a weak smile, to which was returned with a bright, carefree one... A smile that Roxas wasn't so sure was as true as he'd used to think.

"Man oh man, Dem. I think he's on his period this week." Axel shot back lightly, earning a strained chuckle from Demyx. Roxas moved his gaze between the two. The tension in the car was thick, almost strangling, and he reached forward to hit the radio on, filling the car with soft eighties music. Demyx grinned.

"I love the eighties."

"I know you do, Dem. Now lets go and pick up Xigbar."

Demyx's smile widened just a bit more and Axel pulled the SUV out of park, hitting the gas and nearly running over the mail box in his attempt to get the hell away from Demyx's house.

It took only a few minutes to arrive at Xigbar's house- which was in much the same state as Demyx's; run down and looking like shit. The trio got out of the car and walked single file up the weed-filled driveway.

Upon ringing the doorbell, each of the boys was able to hear a series of crashes, followed by the barking of a dog and a voice saying "Patchy! Who's my little baby baby?" Which was simultaneously followed up by child-worthy coos. Roxas shot both Axel and Demyx odd looks, to which Demyx replied with,

"Xigbar's uncle is.. a little special."

"His uncle?" Roxas's inquiry was never replied to, however, because the door slowly opened to reveal a tall man dressed relatively scantily with a spaced-out gaze and long, flowing silver hair. And- was that _makeup?_

A childish quirk reached the man's lips and he stared down at them.

"Hey Kuja! Is Xigbar here?" Axel asked first, placing an almost protective hand on Roxas's shoulder as Kuja's head rose ever so slowly to stare at Axel. He seemed to take a full second to blink only once at them.

"Xig.. bar?" His voice was light, like a chime, though it was dazed and laced with curiosity. "He's.. looking for Red XIII." There was a growl from behind Kuja and the man turned around sluggishly and stared at the red liger behind him.

"Oh..."

The liger lunged, tackling Kuja in the doorway as the teens jumped away with mixed shouts of surprised. Kuja went sprawling onto the sidewalk on his back, Red XIIII sitting on his chest with it's tail twitching merrily, a low purr coming from it's chest.

Kuja looked up and stared at the trio of boys once more. "Who are you?"

Axel slapped his head. "Kuja- did you eat Xigbar's brownies again?"

"Brownies? ... oh!... Those were brownies?" The liger got up off of Kuja's chest and ran into the front yard, chasing after a pig that had wandered in from the neighbor's yard. The pig squealed and Axel's large hand redirected Roxas's gaze back to Xigbar's uncle.

Demyx sighed and Axel groaned. "Nevermind then, Kuja. Go back to watching Martha Stuart." The blonde teen said, as if he was talking to a child. Kuja gave him a bright grin before he sat up and nodded. The man completely ignored the fact that his liger was attacking his neighbor's pig, and entered the house again, closing the door and leaving an awkward silence to descend upon the group.

Axel let out a whoosh of breath and chuckled before turning. "Alright then- no Xiggy today. Let's go pick up Saix." They returned to the car once more. Roxas turned to watch Red XIII bat the pig around like a toy- until Axel's long fingers grasped the top of his head and twisted it to stare at the car once more.

"There is no liger, Roxas." The redhead muttered, releasing the smaller male and then walking around the car to enter the driver's side- watching his friends follow suit. He started up the car and peeled off the curb and back onto the road once more.

The drive took a good five minutes before the SUV pulled to a halt in front of a small house with blue paint and a plethora of wind chimes strewn about the quaint little yard. Axel unbuckled his seatbelt, as did Demyx.

"Saix's mom and dad bought him this house. They're real rich- but they don't want him in the way all the time- nice, huh?." The older blonde explained to Roxas as he opened his door, stepping out and closing it behind him. The trio made their way up the sidewalk, and Roxas looked at all the decorations in the yard. Everything had a picture of a crescent moon on it. It was kinda weird, but cool at the same time.

They reached the door, and Axel knocked three times. When there was no reply after a good thirty seconds, Demyx reached around Axel and hit the doorbell. Soon enough, there was a slow series of heavy footsteps before the door opened.

A shirtless Xemnas stared at the trio. They stared back. Roxas threw up a little in his mouth.

Axel reached into the house and grabbed the doorknob from their teacher's grasp and then pulled the door closed with a click. Yet another very awkward and uncomfortable silence fell upon the group.

"...We don't ever speak of this." Axel said, his voice barely above a whisper. Roxas and Demyx eagerly nodded, both voicing their agreements. Axel turned around. "Lets go and get Marluxia." He said airily, and led the group back down the sidewalk and into the car.

The car ride to Marluxia's was a bit longer than the one to Saix's, though when they stopped in front of the house, Roxas couldn't help but stare at it blankly.

Vines and trees and every plant known to man littered the large yard, leaving only a small strip of sidewalk for people to use, one that required single file walking. Axel led the group again, Demyx bringing up the rear. They didn't knock, and Roxas wanted to protest the rude entry, but lost the ability to speak upon seeing that the inside of the house was as much of a jungle as the outside.

They walked up a set of grass-covered stairs, a bird cawing somewhere in the house as Axel opened a door that had a large pink rose growing on it. Inside of the room, rose bushes grew everywhere, and dead in the center, was a **giant** rose bud, one that was easily larger than Axel, Demyx, and Roxas combined. The blonde teen in question swallowed thickly as Demyx approached the bud, patting his hand on it's soft pink exterior.

"Marluxia, wake up!" The rose bud gave a large shudder, and Demyx stepped back when it started to bloom, revealing a sleeping Marluxia in the very center, clad in a pink fairy outfit. The sleeping teen awoke with a large yawn, stretching his arms and greeting the trio.

-

"Roxas._ Roxas_!"

Roxas jolted awake to a hand shaking his shoulder somewhat roughly, blinking rapidly and then staring at Axel, who was grinning at him.

"You fell asleep on the ride here. You wanna wait in the car while we get Marluxia?" Roxas stared at Axel for a few seconds before, ever so slowly, he nodded. Axel chuckled, retracting his hand from Roxas's shoulder and signaling to Demyx. The two left, and made their way up the side walk of a ... a farm?

The duo rang the doorbell, and Roxas watched as it was answered by a tall man with short brown hair that engulfed them in a hug, before yelling something into the house and leaving. Roxas stared at the farm. There were chickens in the yard, along with a few geese and.. a horse. Farther out, there was fields of plants and crops. No wonder he'd fallen asleep on the ride here- they'd driven out into the country.

Marluxia came to the door and Roxas watched as the trio came back to the car, Marluxia and Demyx getting in the back seat again and Axel slipping into the driver's seat.

"Alright. Next, we get Zexion."

-------------

The tale of Zexion's family was a very interesting, yet mind-rapingly horrible one. Roxas was yet to find this out, seeing as he and the rest of the group were currently traispsing up the somewhat rundown pathway that made up Zexion's sidewalk. It took Axel a good four times of ringing the doorbell before anyone answered, and when they did- Roxas wasn't so sure he'd wanted them to.

The man was a tall, burly fellow with whispy silver hair that seemed to be slicked back in a permanent windblown fashion. He regarded the group of teens silently before stepping aside- allowing them entry.

Axel's hand suddenly planted itself on Roxas's lower back as the redhead led the group through the front entryway and into the living room, where sounds of muffled groans and heated breaths reached Roxas's ears. The blonde teen, curious as he was- couldn't help but peer over at the couch, where two more men, both with silver hair of varying lengths, were engaged in a very passionate make-out session that rivaled the horrid one that Roxas had witnessed Leon and Cloud in two years ago after both men were very drunk, very horny, and on Roxas's bed.

He shuddered at the memory. New Years was never the same for him after that.

Axel pressed his fingers insistently into Roxas's back, giving the blonde boy a gentle shove. "Keep walking, Roxas. Keep walking." Roxas obeyed, allowing Axel to guide him, and flushing when the teen's hand slipped down from to the dip in his back, fingers brushing just centimeteres from his rear.

It was a gentle carress; one that Roxas shivered into as Marluxia opened the last door in the hallway, and the faint music was suddenly magnified as Roxas and the others caught sight of a stoic Zexion, eyes concentrated on a book entitled '_Reverse Eclipse'_, which was held tightly in the youth's hands.

Trailing from underneath Zexion's tuft of violet hair was the white chord of earbuds- which were no doubt the source of such raucous, blaring self-righteous emo rocker music. Marluxia was the first to reach our poor estranged teen. He plucked one earbud out, and Zexion's head slowly lifted, pulling the other out- watching the rosy haired boy with a look that conveyed a fraction of annoyance.

Marluxia offered Zexion a raised eyebrow in some semblance of a reprimand. "You're going to go deaf by listening to them that loudly." Zexion's eyes became downcast and he stared quietly back into his book with a scowl, lifting the earbud back up to fit it into his ear- leaving the second one out.

"You would also want to go deaf if you had to endure what I hear each and every night." The violet haired teen nearly hissed- causing Marluxia to shoot him a look of utmost sympathy.

"I'd have to agree. Luckily, I only have one uncle- and he's not incestuous with his brother, so it's all good."

At this, Roxas's eyes widened so much that it had become painful. Axel's hand had started to rub reassuring circles in his back as the information sunk in.

"Oh God."

Zexion's head snapped to stare at the disturbed blonde. "Yes. Those three are my uncles. And yes- they're all gay together. Never. Ever. Question**_ why_** I'm emo. **Ever**. again." Roxas nodded furiously and Zexion slipped off the bed, already clothed in a navy jacket with tight black jeans and sneakers. They exited the violet-haired teen's room, walking past the couch as a particurlarly loud and erotic gasp echoed- followed up by a long, low moan. Roxas clapped his hands over his ears, and they left the house.

"I fucking hate my uncles." Zexion growled, and Roxas lowered his hands as Demyx reached up to ruffle a tuft of violet hair on Zexion's head- though his hand was slapped away. Axel and Demyx both laughed, and they returned to the car.

"Alright, my fellow losers- our final destination is that of our own Mc. Stabbity- Larxene!" Axel crowed, starting up the car and revving it before pulling it out of park and hitting the gas so hard that Roxas's head slammed into the headrest.

Larxene's house was a block down from Zexion's- which would explain why they stayed together so much, seeing as they probably hung out outside of school.

As they walked up the sidewalk to Larxene's house, Roxas began to nervousley fidget. There was a man on the porch, sitting in a green lawn chair with a can of beer clutched tightly in his hand. It wasn't so much the man, as it was the fact that he was a bit elderly, and was staring at the group with narrowed eyes.

Oh. and he had no legs. Just little stubs that made up for part of his thighs. Roxas decided that hiding behind Axel was a safe bet, and did so. The action earned an amused chuckle from his red-haired companion, but he didn't care. Demyx shot past the two of them, nearly knocking Marluxia over in the process as he approached the elderly man.

"Hey Cid! How are your little nublets today?" The blonde asked, a sadistic glint in his eyes. The man, Cid, apprently, sneered at Demyx.

"They're better than that pussy ass little bump you call your shriveled penis, you cocky son of a bitch!" The old man shot back. Demyx grabbed at his chest, feigning hurt and ducking the beer can tossed at his head.

"Why, Nubs- that's so cruel of you!" The blonde teen gasped, brows furrowed and bottom lip puckered. Axel rolled his eyes as they approached the door, ringing the bell. There was the sound of barking, and claws scraping as the door opened. Roxas caught a glimpse of a black and white dog before Axel's hand grabbed onto his waist.

"Losers! Scatter!" The redhead shouted, lifting Roxas up over his shoulder as every single member of their estranged group shot off into the yard. He could hear the sounds of a dog chasing them, his head bobbing up and down from where Axel had draped him over a bony shoulder. It was then that Demyx's shrieking reached his ears.

"No! No Diddles! Don't pee on me!" Roxas turned his head to see Demyx dangling in the air, hands wrapped around a tree branch as the dog ran around his feet, leaving a dark trail in it's wake. The beast caught sight of Axel, and Roxas flailed.

"Axel! Put me down! It's coming after us! We'll run faster if you _put me down!_" Axel dropped the blonde and shot off to his car, Roxas in tow. They scrambled onto the hood of the SUV, Roxas's heart racing and Axel's loud laughter echoing as Diddles went off after Zexion, who was currently being helped into the tree by Demyx.

Marluxia was nowhere to be seen, and Roxas turned to see him sitting inside of the car, grinning widly at his own ingenious plan. Axel's arm slung itself around Roxas's shoulders, body still shaking with laughter as Larxene's dog seemed to have pissed itself out, standing in a puddle of it's own urine under the tree that Zexion and Demyx were sitting in.

"Mutt! Get the fuck over here!" Larxene's voice snapped over the sound of Axel's chuckles and Cid's raucous laughter. The dog waddled back over to the blonde girl that now stood on her porch. Larxene kicked it in the behind and it yelped- running back into the house. Zexion slid out of the tree, holding his arms out as Demyx followed suit, arms resting on Zexion's shoulders as the violet- haired teen placed him on the ground.

Demyx gave Zexion a curt hug of gratitude and pranced back to the porch. "Hey nubs!" Realizing that the older blonde was going to start bickering with the poor, legless old man again- Roxas tuned him out. They approached Larxene- who was still garbed in her pajamas, and she slapped Axel in the face.

"I'm going to go get ready." The blonde girl stated, ignoring the hurt look Axel shot her as he clutched his face with wide eyes. Roxas let loose an exasperated sigh and placed a comforting hand on Axel's shoulder- to which the redhead grinned and turned around, long arms wrapping around Roxas's body in an engulfing hug.

"Aww, Roxas I knew you loved me!" Axel's nose rubbed against Roxas's neck- and it tickled him enough for a small half-giggle, half-chuckle to escape as he vainly tried to push Axel away. The taller teen, however, had a different idea in mind, and lifted Roxas up, spinning him around. If Roxas were any other gay boy, he'd have squealed- but he wasn't, and so his arms wrapped around Axel's neck to keep from getting dizzy, his head burying into the redhead's shoulder before Axel set him back on the ground again. They broke apart- both stumbling for a moment as their equilibrium was shot to hell.

"Hey Nubs! Why don't get you come get me and take your cigarettes back, huh?" Demyx's evil taunting caught Roxas's attention and he turned to see the taller blonde dangling a pack of cigarettes in front of the elderly man- who kept trying to snatch them away, only to have Demyx's arm lift out of his grasp and a round of laughter to escape the sadistic teen.

"What's that? You can't? Oh! That's right! Because you have no legs! Ahahah!" Demyx cackled, jumping away when Cid took a swipe at him and prancing through the front yard and to Axel's car.

"Get back here and fight like a man!" Cid roared, squirming so much that his stumps wiggled up and down, his chair rocking unsteadily as he tried to get up and chase Demyx. Larxene exited the house with a beer can, throwing it to Cid.

"Here you go, grampa." She said, ignoring the fact that when she'd tossed it, it'd hit the old man's chest with a painful thud before rolling off of his stumps and onto the porch. Cid glared at it, then up at Larxene.

"You kids shouldn't be showin' your elders such disrespect!" He shouted, "Back when I lost my legs in 'Nam--"

"Grampa," Larxene interrupted, sounding exasperated as she lifted the beer can up again and placed it in Cid's hand. "You didn't lose your legs in 'Nam. You lost them in that horrible barbeque pork sauce accident." She muttered, patting the old man on his balding blonde head.

"We don't speak about that, Larxy." Cid grumbled and crossed his arms. Larxene kissed him on the top of his forehead and turned to the others, shooting all three of the teens a nasty glare before bidding her grandfather goodbye and walking down the sidewalk with Axel, Roxas and Zexion.

She held her hand out when she reached Demyx, and the blonde pouted, depositing the cigarette pack in her grasp and getting into the car- pushing Marluxia over to make room for Zexion as Larxene trekked back to her house to return Cid his cigarettes, placing them on the small stand a foot or two away from the man.

"You're too good to me, Larxy." Cid said softly, smiling as she waved at him once more and returned to the car as Cid began to scream and rant about certain horrible grandaughters placing an old man's cigs two inches from his reach for their own sadistic pleasure.

"Alright, once we drop Demyx off at swim practice- we'll figure out what we want to do." Axel declared as soon as Larxene had buckled herself in. There were mixed noises of acknowledgement and Axel pulled the SUV out of park and drove off.

It took a half hour of bickering and Demyx constantly demanding they turn the radio up because he _'loved this song!'_ before they reached the school, driving up to the side of the building as Axel put the car into park.

"Thanks for the ride, Axel!" Demyx shouted, unbuckling his seatbelt and then opening the door to hop out. As soon as Demyx had closed it- there was a shriek from the blonde teen, followed by a loud thud into the side of the car as the SUV rocked back and forth.

"Demyx! You're so late! I thought you weren't gonna show today!" Roxas peered out the window to see another blonde with his hair hanging all in his face, he was so tall that he towered above Demyx, clutching onto the blonde's shoulders with a grin. Demyx patted the other male on the chest (which was bare- actually, the guy was clad in naught but his swim speedos.)

"Sorry Mizumachi, but we had to go and pick everyone up first. I'm here now." A bright, cheery grin spread onto Mizumachi's face and he bent down, arms wrapping around Demyx's torso and lifting him onto one shoulder, going against Demyx's loud protests.

"Alright! Lets swim! **Japaaaaan!**" The horridly tall blonde screamed, running through the parking lot with Demyx slung over his shoulder, and into the school.

"I knew there was a reason I didn't join the swim team besides the fact that I hate water." Axel murmured thoughtfully, switching the SUV back into drive. Marluxia's head popped up between the driver and passenger seats.

"Make sure to go around the school instead of past the football field- they're practicing right now." Roxas perked up, even as Axel nodded to Marluxia's warning. His old school didn't have anything but Blitzball, so he'd never seen an actual football practice- or game, before.

"I want to watch them practice- I've never gotten to see a football team before because my school didn't have one." Roxas piped up, earning the stares of everyone in the car. Axel's hands twitched against the steering wheel as Marluxia plead with Axel to ignore Roxas.

"Rox- if you didn't have such pleading baby blues, I'd tell you no... but since I have no self restraint... you've just sealed us all to a fate worse than death." Axel hit the gas and Marluxia let out a wail of despair.

* * *

**MEANWHILE**

* * *

Xigbar sighed and shoved a hand into his pocket, absently pushing his cell phone around in small circles. He trudged along the grass, kicking a stray rock every so often. Taking a nice stroll in the park at ten in the morning wasn't exactly his idea of a fun way to spend Saturday. No, he had Red XIII to thank for this. 

Fucking liger.

The beast had been sitting in the kitchen with Xigbar as the teen shoveled down a nutritious bowl of _Kyuubi O's_ (whole grain for a healthier digestive track ;D). Xigbar had then afterwards left the back door open a total of eleven seconds to take out the trash, and when he returned, the damn animal was nowhere in sight.

Xigbar made a left around a small bend of trees, grumbling lowly in irritation as the muffled noises of the other park-goers became considerably amplified. He had unintentionally crossed into the area of the park that was a hot-spot for playing sports, as noted from the groups of kids and teens running around that were shouting, laughing, screaming, and being generally loud and annoying, accompanied by everything from various gaming sticks being brutally clashed together to blitzballs soaring through the air.

Xigbar didn't care for sports. He just didn't see the point to them. Especially blitzball. He disliked blitzball more than the others, probably because Oblivion High had one of the best blitzball teams around, and Xigbar never heard the end of the damn sport at his school.

The stoner let out an aggravated puff of air, quickly scanning over the area before turning on his heel. Red XIII wasn't in this part of the park, and Xigbar was starting to doubt that the liger was _anywhere_ in the fucking park. He wanted to go home. His buzz from last night was wearing off, and he didn't have anything on him, not even a pack of cigarettes. Yes, home was good. Home and drugs an-

"Look out!"

Xigbar glanced up just in time to see a shadowy object rocketing straight toward him. It collided with his face, not giving so much as two seconds so he could dive out of the way. "Agh! Me other eye!" Xigbar roared, hands flying up to cup his face. He lifted his fingers slightly to glare at the blue ball lying innocently on the ground. _Bastard._

"You okay?"

Xigbar lowered his hands, gaze landing on a figure running toward him. A boy with messy blonde hair (though not quite as seizure-induced as Roxas or Sora's) screeched to a halt in front of Xigbar, panting slightly. "I'm really sorry abou-" The boy's blue eyes widened considerably when they landed on the older male's right eye- or lack thereof. "Oh shit, did I do that?"

Xigbar sighed, giving the boy one of those '_That's great Bobby, but we don't **have** Dance Dance Revolution. So, you're dumb._' kind of looks. "Yes. I came prepared with an eyepatch and everything." He retorted dryly, pulling his hands down completely from his face.

The kid's cheeks tinged pink, and he reached up to scratch the back of his head awkwardly. "Uh…yeah…"

Xigbar's attention was averted as another figure trotted up to them. This new guy bent down to retrieve the fallen blitzball, pushing a few strands of orange hair from his face. "What happened, mon?" The guy asked, staring at the two before him. Xigbar's eye was attacked with a sudden bout of spastic twitching, his hands clenching at his sides. Something about this guy's accent incited a burning rage inside of him. A fiery, _burning_ rage.

The blonde boy's mouth opened to respond, but was stopped by Xigbar jabbing an accusing finger at the orange-haired guy. "_No I do not want any **fucking** Apple Jacks,_ _you **fucking** cinnamon stick_! Leave me the hell alone already!" He snarled. The guy blinked in bewilderment, a thick silence falling over the odd group- until the blonde boy burst out laughing, eyes clenched shut and hands grasping sides. It was a pleasant and carefree laugh- not too loud, not too raspy, it was the perfect tone, almost as pleasing to the ear as Demyx's voice.

The orange-haired guy glanced at the blonde boy with a growing look of confusion, apparently not finding anything that made that outburst remotely funny. Xigbar growled and pinched the bridge of his nose, not in the mood to be hit with any more stray balls or be propositioned by cereal icons. He just wanted to get the hell out of there and go home.

"I'm, uh…Gonna go back with the others, kay, mon?" The cinnamon stick guy announced, backing away ever so slowly, as if afraid to provoke Xigbar into mauling him by making any sudden movements.

"Okay, Wakka. I'll be back in a minute." The blond boy replied, not bothering to watch his friend trot off at a brisk pace- he was far too preoccupied with watching Xigbar, his blue eyes wide and a hint of a smile on his face. Xigbar turned from watching Wakka all but run away to stare at the blonde boy expectantly.

"I really am sorry." The boy gave Xigbar a small, sheepish grin and clasped his hands together behind his back, rocking backwards on his heels before leaning forward so that his feet tapped onto the ground again. He repeated this motion once more- awaiting the stoner's reply patiently.

. Xigbar snorted, spinning around. "Just watch where you're throwin' next time, okay?" The dark haired male began trudging away from the raucous noise behind him, but heard a second pair of footsteps follow as the blonde kid trotted forward until he appeared at Xigbar's side, his arms now swinging freely by his sides.

"I'm Tidus, by the way." The boy introduced himself, quickening his pace slightly to keep up with Xigbar's long strides. The kid barely reached Xigbar's chin, by the looks of it- and he nearly had to jog just to keep from falling out of pace with older teen.

"Xigbar." The stoner responded, eyes darting about the park in search of his elusive liger, not bothering to spare a glance at who he was talking to. There was a light, tinkling laughter from beside him, and Xigbar glanced at the blonde for a moment before continuing his sweeping search of the park.

"You didn't come here to play, right?" Tidus asked, as they rounded the bend of trees that removed them from the sports area. Xigbar's pace slowed just the smallest bit, and so Tidus was subjected to a fast-paced walk instead of an almost jog.

"Hell no. I was looking for my liger." This time, Xigbar did look down at his new companion. Why the fuck was this kid following him, anyway? Did he want something? Xigbar didn't even have apack of cigarettes, let alone anything that this rich punk probably wanted.

Tidus's eyes widened slightly, mouth parting just the smallest bit as he absorbed in the information Xigbar had just spewed forth. "You have a liger? As in, a cross between a lion and tiger, liger?"

Xigbar resisted the urge to smack himself in the face as he veered toward the park bench on his right, approaching it and flopping down it's wooden surface. He'd been walking for at least an hour, which was more physical exertion than he normally got during the daytime- granted, Xigbar wasn't fat. He was stick thin and proud. The only muscles he had were on his arms and stomach from all the heavy lifting he had to do at work. "Seeing as that's generally the definition of a liger, yes." Xigbar retorted, leaning back with a sigh.

Tidus immediately seated himself beside the older male. "So you own one? But I thought they were only kept in zoos and stuff." The boy's brow creased slightly, his toes digging into the grass and then kicking out before he tapped his heels together in a gentle rhythm. Xigbar crossed his arms loosely over his torso.

"Apparently not."

Tidus shifted, drawing a leg up to his chest and wrapping both of his arms about it. The blonde glanced at Xigbar, resting his cheek on top of a bare knee. "How did you get it?"

Xigbar exhaled through his nose, tilting his head upward to gaze at the sky. "Well, I was stoned…" he paused at the small intake of air beside him, glimpsing at Tidus.

The kid's eyes were wide once more, his leg falling down to the ground again as he twisted his body to better look at the older male. "You do drugs?" He stared at Xigbar with a childlike fascination, as if the other had told him that he was really a six foot tall leprechaun that could bum cookies off Keebler Elves for him.

Xigbar gave him an incredulous look. "Yes, yes I do. You don't?" Tidus shook his head vigorously, soft blonde hair flopping to and fro before he stopped, and it fell gently back into place.

"And you've never watched your friends light up, shoot up…nada?" Again, Tidus shook his head, turning his body to sit cross legged, completely facing Xigbar's side, his hands clasped together in his lap. "None of my friends do drugs." He replied simply.

Xigbar shook his head, briefly wondering how the hell he'd managed to get a goody-two-shoes kid like this super glued to his side. "Well, anyway, I was stoned, so I don't remember the details….I don't remember it at all, actually, but I apparently had some sort of trade off with a guy I was with, and when I came off my high, my kitchen sink was gone and I had a liger sittin' on my bed." Xigbar finished with a small nod, raising his arms up behind his head and lacing his fingers together to rest them on his neck.

Tidus's eager gaze never wavered. "Wow…" he breathed out, as if he was actually in awe of hearing what Xigbar did in his free time. He moved his hands so that he could scoot just a bit closer to Xigbar, hands grasping at his knees and a faint grin on his childish face.

Xigbar turned his head fully toward his companion. "So you're one of those blitzball-playing assholes? Don't you guys have lives?" He asked, figuring that he really had nothing better to do than sit on his ass and talk with some kid who thought stoners were the coolest things in the world.

Tidus nodded enthusiastically. "Yep! I play it- I have to train for the upcoming season." Xigbar had to quell his amusement to keep a smirk off his face from the way the boy's cerulean eyes light up at the mere touching on the subject of blitzball.

Instead, the stoner raised an eyebrow. "The season doesn't start for another month." He pointed out, bobbing his head towards the blonde's direction. Tidus shifted once more and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, but you have to train _before_ the season. My school doesn't have the best blitzball team for nothing." A hint of pride swelled in the boy's words- words that Xigbar had to take notice of, considering his own school was esteemed for the aforementioned title.

"And what school's that?" He asked, appearing nonchalant. Xigbar didn't remember seeing this kid around, but then again, he didn't remember faces too well. The blonde boy wouldn't be very hard to forget once he'd been brought to Xigbar's attention.

"Oblivion High." Tidus responded almost immediately, his tone seeming to ooze pride at just admitting the name of his school.

Xigbar grunted, smirking faintly. "Well, that's irony biting me in the ass." He muttered more to himself than anyone. At the look of inquiry on his blonde companion's face, Xigbar decided to elaborate. "It's mine, too."

Tidus's eyebrows shot up. "You go to Oblivion High? ... Wait'a sec.. You're in my LMS class, aren't you?" As soon as he'd mentioned it, Xigbar was bombarded with flashbacks of wrestling with Demyx, throwing books at the teacher, and loud laughter from a blonde haired boy near the front of the class. Axel had pointed out that the kid's sense of humor probably rivaled Sora's- which was a pretty hard thing to do. Thinking back on it, Xigbar put two and two together to realize that Tidus was that same blonde kid that laughed at most of the crazy shit that Xigbar and the others did in that class.

"Huh- never realized that till now. You're a freshman, right?" Xigbar asked, raising an eyebrow at the blonde teen and sitting up, his arms falling from behind his neck to rest on his thighs with a clap.

Tidus shook his head. "Sophomore." The Blitzball player corrected, giving Xigbar a bright grin- to which was shot down by Xigbar's next, pessimistic statement.

"Okay, sophomore. Well, sophomores don't have many classes with seniors, and besides, your crowd doesn't really hang out with mine. They hate each other, actually." Xigbar explained, making a flippant motion with his hand. Even if he had met Tidus thanks to a wayward blitzball, the boy's tanned skin, sun-bleached hair, and sleek muscles were dead giveaways as to what group he belonged to; the happy-obnoxious sportsy fanatic douchebags. As a result, those who had been rejected from the rainbows-and-sunshine side of life, such as Xigbar, found them endlessly agitating.

Silence reigned for a total of three seconds before Tidus completely changed the subject once more, as if ignoring the stoner's previous statement, and rocked forward just slightly, his eyes shining with curiosity once more. "What happened to your eye?" He asked, indicating Xigbar's eyepatch.

Xigbar snorted in gruff appreciation. He had to give the kid points for being so damn blunt. Usually, people would beat around the bush so much with that question that it ended up pissing Xigbar off more than if they'd just asked outright.

The dark haired teen scratched his chin thoughtfully, hunching back against the bench once more as the story and words mulled around in his head for a moment. "Well, I was stoned…" he started off, shooting a glance to the attentive Tidus before continuing. "So yeah, I don't remember much of it at all…and it was back when I was in eighth grade. I got into a knife fight with some guy, and when I came to, I found out the stupid bastard stabbed me in the eye."

Tidus gaped slightly, staring at the eyepatch with an offbeat sense of wonder. "Did it hurt?" he asked, leaning towards Xigbar to peer at the eyepatch- as if trying to look through it.

Xigbar sighed, pushing himself up from his slumped position. "Don't remember how it felt when I actually got stabbed, but it hurt like a fuckin' bitch when I woke up."

Tidus twisted his body so that his legs rested underneath of his bottom before he let out the smallest of grunts, pushing himself onto his knees. "Can I see it?" A shred of hopefulness glimmered in the blonde's tone that made Xigbar want to give in to his wishes, and the stoner had no idea why.

Normally, if someone he didn't know was following him around like this and asking a bunch of mindless questions, he would have shouted at them to get the fuck away from him long ago, but he couldn't conjure up any tangent irritation for this twerp; only amusement.

"You won't like what you see." Xigbar warned, and not without good reason. Nearly everyone who had seen him without his eyepatch had winced in either disgust or pity. Xigbar hated both- its not like he _needed_ both eyes anyway.

"But can I still see it?" Tidus remained insistent, his pleading going up a notch. His eyes were wide, shining with such a hope that the older male had only seen in Demyx's eyes whenever there was something musical present and the blonde wanted permission to sing.

Xigbar huffed in resignation. "Knock yourself out, kid." He consented, preparing himself fully for any winces, gimaces, or looks of pity/sympathy that he might possibly recieve.

A wide grin spread itself across Tidus's face and he leaned forward, placing one hand on Xigbar's chest to balance himself while the other hand rose up to carefully lift the eyepatch from the older male's face.

Xigbar waited placidly for the look of distaste, the sympathetic gaze, but it never came. Instead, Tidus gasped and his grin grew wider. "Whoa! That's so freakin' awesome!" He exclaimed, lifting the patch a bit father away from the horrid, jagged red scar running from Xigbar's brow to the bridge of his nose.

Xigbar's right eye was permanently shut because of the way the knife had dug into it. The doctors had decided that it was better to have the eyelids sealed together than to repair it and leave a gaping socket. Xigbar knew that it wouldn't only be a fraction more unsightly if he could open his eye.

Tidus's finger ran along the ridge of the scar, and Xigbar rose an eyebrow in surprise. Well, nobody had ever had _that_ reaction before. Not even Axel and Demyx. Granted, they'd been there when it happened…but still.

Tidus stared a beat longer before gently lowering the eyepatch, his gaze traveling over Xigbar's face and landing on the faded scar adorning the older's left cheek. "Did you get that in the knife fight, too?"

Xigbar made a soft noise of disagreement. "Nah, I got it in a different fight."

Tidus leaned over to peer intently at the scar. "How'd you get it?" Xigbar shifted, causing Tidus to lean more of his weight into his companion's chest, one hand going to the stoner's thigh to support himself. "Well, I was stoned…"

Tidus pulled away just the slightest to let out a soft laugh of amusement. "Are you high in all your stories?" he tried suppressing his grin and failed miserably.

Xigbar let a smirk of his own show. "Kid, you the fifth person in the entire world who's had a conversation with me when I'm _not_ high." The boy shot him a half-awed, half-disbelieving look. Realizing that Xigbar was telling the truth, Tidus shot him a smile and went back to looking at the wide stripe of damaged skin on the taller man's face.

He lightly traced his finger over Xigbar's cheek, his blue orbs filled with such an innocent curiosity that it amazed Xigbar. The only childlike innocence he observed on a regular basis was from Demyx, and in that case, the childlike far outweighed the innocence. But while it was just plain annoying with Demyx, it seemed to suit this kid perfectly.

He could blame his delayed reaction time to all the brain cells he'd murdered via hallucinogens over the years, but Xigbar suddenly became painfully aware of his and Tidus's proximity. Their bodies were nearly pressed flush against each other, and the kid's face was so close to his, he could feel Tidus's warm breath ghosting across his neck. One hand was on his thigh- a thumb painfully close to brushing certain areas of Xigbar's body that weren't appropriate, and the other was touching his scar in an almost carress.

Xigbar gripped Tidus's shoulders, gently pushing the boy away from him and back beside him until Tidus was forced into a sitting position. "Careful. I have the self-control of Marluxia in Bath n' Body Works." He muttered, trying to convince himself that his face did _not _feel hot at all.

Tidus tilted his head to the side, obviously not understanding the analogy in the slightest. "What's a Marluxia?" He questioned, sliding his legs off the bench and placing his feet on the ground. Xigbar's look turned thoughtful.

"He's a huge pink fairy that's obsessed with flowers." He explained with such a matter-of-fact finality that Tidus was extremely inclined to believe him.

"You mean the one that goes around at night sprinkling pixie dust on flowers so they'll bloom the next day?" Much like his companion, the blond said this so un-hesitatingly that Xigbar would have agreed with him whole-heartedly if he'd been a little more buzzed.

Xigbar cracked a grin. "I wouldn't be surprised." He replied, imagining a pink-garbed Marluxia prancing around the city at dawn, throwing handfuls of glitter on every flower he came across.

The duo stayed this way for at least another hour, not once sitting in silence for more than five seconds. Xigbar couldn't remember the last time he'd had such an idle, ongoing conversation with someone for so long; especially with a stranger. Xigbar chalked it up to the fact that Tidus was a talker if he ever saw one; the kid _never _fucking ran out of things to talk about. Never.

At roughly twelve fifteen, Tidus was interrupted in mid-sentence by a peculiar polyphonic jingle, coming seemingly from nowhere. Xigbar, who recognized the tune immediately, reached out and grasped onto the bench, eyes wide. "Oh Jesus, am I still tripping? I hear his infernal theme song!" The stoner whipped around, looking back and forth wildly.

"Go away Inspector Gadget! I don't give a flying fuck about your retractable arms!" Xigbar roared, causing a nearby old lady walking her dog to stare at the two very oddly before quickening her pace so much that she nearly broke a hip in an attempt to get away from them.

The song was abruptly cut short, and Xigbar turned back around to see Tidus with an open cell phone in his hand and an amused grin on his face. "It was just my phone ringing." The boy explained, raising the device to his ear.

"Hey mom." He greeted casually, leaning back. He listened for a moment before his mouth quirked upwards in the smallest of smiles. "Yeah, they were really practicing hard today." The blond listened a few more moments before his face fell slightly. "Already? Okay….Love you too. Bye."

Tidus sighed woefully as he pocketed his cell phone. "Sorry. My mom wants me to stop playing blitzball and come home for lunch…." He trailed off, eye growing progressively wider by the second as reality sunk in.

"Shit! I left the guys there!" He yelped, jumping up from his seat on the bench. "I gotta go! Bye Xigbar!" The boy exclaimed, turning and shooting off in the direction they had come from.

Xigbar watched as Tidus veered around the obscuring bend of trees, slowly hauling himself up out of his own seat. "Bye kid." He said, even though he knew Tidus couldn't hear him, and began leisurely making his way in the opposite direction.

Today had been an interesting day.

* * *

**Author's Notes (They're really long, this time around):**

**Random Kyuubi**: And.. the introduction of our** first** Crack pairing- Xigbar and Tidus! Formerly known as Xigdus, but more commonly referred to as Tiggy or Xiddy... if this pairing squicks you- please try to bear with us. It will grow on you.. it really will. It works with what we have in mind, trust us- it does.

**Psycho Rooster**: No, Demyx and Reno are _not_ a couple- they're just gay retards like that.

**Random Kyuubi**: Yes, there's a story behind Axel's pink room. And also, there is a reason why Demyx's Sitar was in Axel's closet.

**Psycho Rooster:** Woo. Writing this chapter was insane... granted- it wasn't nearly as painstaking as writing Malachite, but it was a toughie. Man oh man. I didn't expect it to turn out THIS long. Geeze. I think when we plan it, we don't realize that I tend to add in three times as much detail to it compared to the original idea of the chapter. Pah. I hope none of you had a hernia spending all of your time trying to read this! We tried really hard to make it funny, and keep the plot going at the same time- since we had a few complaints about the last chapter's phone conversation supposedly going nowhere and all. I guess I hadn't portrayed that it was the one thing that really started Axel, and Demyx becoming closer friends with Roxas so that were comfortable talking to each other for such an extended period of time about complete nonsense. I actually put quite a bit of work into this chapter, and I know that RK did also. I tried my hardest to make the scenes work, while keeping up the flow and humor of the other chapters.I hope that everyone is pleased!

**Random Kyuubi:** School has started up for the both of us. (Actually, tomorrow, for PR) And so we- okay,**_ I_** will be juggling homework and the next chapter.. while PR will fail her classes and proceed to procrastinate in the writing of the next chapter- because she is a horrible person like that. -gets slapped-

**Psycho Rooster:** As a final note: To those who think that we are horrible peope for what we did to Cid: I say, ptooey. There's a boy at my school with no arms or legs, who's nickname is Nubs- he can write with those stumps, he can skateboard (I've seen him, it's insane) This kid can fucking DRIVE, and he's like, three feet tall with nothing past his elbows. People with handicaps like that can cope, I've seen it first hand. Plus, I adore Cid to no end, and I can't help but torture him in such a horribe, cruel fasion.

**Random Kyuubi:** .. Yeah- we're going to hell.

**Psycho Rooster**: Yeah.

-

**Psycho Rooster:** Here's a funny Author's note for you. An easy way to identify what is written solely by RK is that it has the word 'fuck' at least once a paragraph. ;D (Though PR has taken to editing everything she writes to add in detail and such, so often, she ends up removing the word 'fuck' and replacing it with a more extensive vocabulary, so search hard, my minions!)

**Random Kyuubi:** And here's an easy way to identify if something's been written by PR. You'll see the word 'whilst', the phrase 'had he' instead of 'if he had', the word 'disappear' spelled 'dissapear', the word 'vengeance' spelled 'vengance', and the word 'awkward' spelled 'akward.' ;DDDDDD

**Psycho Rooster**: And RK is also a complete asshole for making sure not to edit those typos so that you can notice that. DX

**Random Kyuubi:** I could also be a complete asshole by stating that we won't update until all 56 of the people with this story on their alerts actually get off their lazy asses and review- but I won't.

**Psycho Rooster:** Then again- we can't update until I put in my edits, because that's the visualization of the story... so I could be the one to pull through on that threat.. hmmm. I know for a fact that our stats tells us the name of every individual with this story on their alerts...-taps chin- So... it's really up to the reviewers this time around, whether or not we update.. D

**Random Kyuubi**: Ooh, Touche'.


	6. Alabaster

**Carmine Complex**

The BirdFox Hybrid Productions

**Disclaimer:** All things Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy are the pwnage of Disney's fat whore ass and Square Enix.

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**alabaster: _noun;_** a very clean white.

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You guys _better_ fucking enjoy this chapter.

* * *

"Alex Hara?"

"Fuck you, Mansex!"

Xemnas raised his eyes from the sheet of names in his hands to stare at one very livid Axel Hara, eyes alit with fury as he shot up from his desk so fast that his chair teetered before clattering to the ground, the lanky teen pointing a shaking finger at his Trigonometry teacher. The man's face remained expressionless, merely raising two eyebrows lazily and regarding Axel with a look of mild apathy, the attendance list held loosely in his large hands as he lifted his shoulders, as if he were one accused of a crime not committed.

"I just want to know if Alex is here or not." He said softly- though the majority of the class knew that the man's humor only stretched out the distance of two centimeters, and was not to be confused with his look of utter loathing, which bore the same facial expression as whenever he teased someone.

Axel slammed his fists down onto his desk, teeth bared in a snarl. "_Axel_ is here, and he's sorry that **Mansex **didn't get any **_mansex_** last night!" It was like the room had gone from moderately warm to an icy whip-crack of cold, leaving the majority of the classroom to shudder at the biting insult. Had it been any other teacher than Xemnas, there would have been resounding laughter mocking the elder man, but instead- dead silence.

Xemnas regarded his student coolly before lowering the paper he held and turning back to his desk. "Don't speak of things which you don't know about." He placed the attendance list down- not bothering to continue roll call, and taking a seat.

Nothing more was said,- but the message was loud and clear. An uncomfortable, awkward silence drifted into the classroom for precisely four and a half seconds before Demyx forcefully wrenched his body back and then proceeded to crack his head into his desk with a shriek of "_Eww!_" as Saix began sliding down quite far in his seat- his normally passive face just the lightest shade of pink as he glanced about the room.

Xigbar turned to face the others with a grin. "Mansex: three. Axel: two." The stoner commented lightly, and was rewarded with a very kind and nurturing flipping of Axel's middle finger.

It was then that Xemnas had regained his dignity to start announcing the class's assignment, stepping towards the dry-erase board at the front of the class room with a marker in hand. With his long, elegant scrawl, the man listed out the page number and assignment- and a brief description of what he intended the class to do, before turning back around and suggesting they get started before the bell rang, since it would be due at the end of class.

Demyx, who had just recovered from his self-inflicted head injury, let loose a muffled groan into the hard wooden surface of his desk, blonde hair flopping to the side as he tilted his head to look past Roxas's desk and to Axel's. "Bookwork? Thanks for pissing him off, Axel." Roxas hid the slight grin on his face, leaning back to allow the older blonde boy a better glaring-range at their red haired companion.

Axel looked utterly offended, placing a long-fingered hand against his chest. "Hey, it's not _completely_ my fault that he's out to make us fail." He retaliated, leaning back in his chair and slipping his hands behind his neck for support.

Roxas grabbed the textbook from beneath his desk and rolled his eyes. "If you guys actually _did_ your work, you wouldn't be failing." He flipped his book open to the correct page. Once found, Roxas leaned over to his backpack and opened it to extract a binder labeled 'Trigonometry' and a pencil. He placed them on his desk as Demyx spoke next.

"We don't because we can't. If you hadn't noticed- we suck at math." The musically-inclined teenager replied, idly flipping through the pages of his own textbook once he'd stolen a spare piece of paper from the one-eyed stoner beside him- which earned a very displeased squawk about deadly pineapples from Xigbar.

"We noticed." Xigbar snapped, clutching his pencil protectively to his chest and making clawing motions at Demyx until he'd settled down and then flailed in an attempt to find his own textbook. (which Demyx had stolen from him when the stoner was checking to make sure the gnomes hadn't taken his underpants that day.)

Roxas skeptically raised an eyebrow at Demyx, and then turned to watch Axel for a moment. "If you hate math so much, how did you get into trigonometry?" Axel and Demyx exchanged a wary look with each other across Roxas's desk before Axel's brilliant green eyes landed on the sophomore beside him.

"Tron. Never, _ever_ piss Tron off." The redhead warned as Demyx nodded vigorously all the while. Roxas released what could possibly be labeled as an insufferable sigh and placed his head gingerly into his palm for a moment, before beginning his math work. He wasn't going to suffer for his friends' lack of motivation towards graduating. Soon enough, Demyx was also working- though occasionally peering over at Xigbar's paper for answers to questions, despite the fact that he had been slapped in the face twice already.

Once he'd finished a good portion of his work- nearly fifteen minutes into the assignment- Roxas peered to the side to watch Axel. The lanky redhead was leaning back in his chair, reclined in the exact same position he was in when the work had been assigned with a look of apathy planted on his pale features. His textbook was closed and he had no paper or pencil out to speak of. Xemnas was walking about the room, helping students with raised hands on their work, and the blonde boy returned his gaze to Axel's prone form.

"Axel." It was a soft murmur, grabbing the redhead's attention as Axel's eyes slid open a crack and surveyed Roxas calmly.

"Hmm?"

Roxas pointed his pencil to Xemnas's turned back. "You could ask him for help if you don't understand. It might be a good idea." The blonde returned back to his work, satisfied that he'd attempted to help Axel further his education in some way. Axel leaned forward in his seat, reaching into his bag to pull out a pencil, pausing for a moment and then sitting upright with one in hand. As Roxas scribbled down another equation, he was oblivious to Axel's uncomfortable fidgeting and the way that the thin teen opened and closed his mouth a few times before speaking up while Xemnas was helping Seifer Almasy- who sat in front of him.

"Manse- Xem-. Xemnas." The man didn't seem to hear him, pointing and explaining another part of the assignment to the blonde-haired bully. Axel's face fell, but he glanced at Roxas's bowed head and his brows furrowed. He opened his messenger bag and pulled out a sheet of paper, placing it on his desk. "Xemnas, I don't understand the work." His voice was a little bolder, but still wary to admit his weakness. Xemnas stood up as Seifer began to nod and write something down.

The silver haired man didn't spare a glance at Axel, even when the redhead stuttered out. "I don't- I don't understand this stuff." Xemnas walked away, and Axel's fingers harshly gripped his pencil- startling Roxas when the small wooden device cracked and broke in half. He looked up to see Axel's gaze directed at the broken pencil- and then noticed how Xemnas had not only ignored Axel's somewhat hidden request for help-he'd walked in the opposite direction. Roxas placed his own pencil down, sighing softly and scooting his chair up close to the redhead.

"What don't you get?"

"Everything. I just- it doesn't click, yanno?" Axel muttered, his eyes downcast and head turned just a fraction away from the blonde teen. Roxas allowed another small sigh to escape, leaning over to bump shoulders with the redhead.

"Hey- thinking like that is why you don't get it." He said softly, almost reprimanding the taller teen for his foolishness. A hint of pink crept onto the bridge of Axel's nose and Roxas grinned, nudging him once more. "Here- start with writing your name down on the paper." Axel obliged, lifting his broken pencil and scribbling down his name and the class underneath it.

"See, one step further already! Now, here's how you do number one- listen close." Axel leaned in, and Roxas had to flush brightly at their suddenly close proximity, but forcefully willed it away and began explaining the first problem. It took nearly the entire class period, but Roxas had helped Axel through over half the assignment until Axel was able to do it on his own. The bell rang shrilly and the group stood, Axel gingerly placing his nearly-finished assignment into his empty folder with a small grin on his face before turning to Roxas and reaching forward to give the blonde a tight hug.

"Thanks, Roxas." He murmured into the smaller male's shoulder, and Roxas let out a soft sight of contentment, returning the embrace.

"You're welcome."

He was released soon enough when Demyx's cooing reached his ears, and the two boys pulled apart quickly, Axel clearing his throat and then ruffling Roxas's hair before they left the classroom.

Third period had passed once again with little significance-- other than the English homework that Commodore Norrington had decided to pile onto each student's agenda-- and soon, LMS was approaching. Roxas hadn't particularly been looking forward to his LMS class- if only for the sole reason that today was the day that they were supposed to be doing the two mile run. Now, Roxas wasn't a fat slob, by any means. He didn't mind taking a walk around his neighborhood every now and then- but to run two miles in pedophile worthy black gym shorts and a white tee with a penis emblem slapped onto the chest (despite the insistence that it was the school's logo) was just too much. They took their seats, Roxas sitting beside Axel without a second thought as his friends began to chat with each other.

The bell rang and Xaldin entered the class clad in the regulatory shorts and shirt. Most of the class turned their gaze away from his disgustingly hairy legs and arms, and Roxas decided that Axel's eyes were particularly more attractive today than any other day (which was a feat in itself)

"Alright, kids." Xaldin clapped his large hands together, grabbing the attention of the class. "Locker rooms!" He boomed, pointing a furry arm towards the door. Axel grumbled as he and Roxas stood, stepping up to the blonde and slinging his arms around Roxas's shoulders to guide the smaller teen out the door. Soon enough, the rest of their group appeared around the two. Sora and Demyx were arguing softly, while Riku held onto his boyfriend's hand. Xigbar was muttering to himself, standing on the other side of Roxas. With the split second speed that only Eddy East (Not that Xigbar knew the name of The Flare's secret identity) could accomplish, there was a whoosh of air, and an orange and white blur shot past before stopping next to Xigbar.

"Hey Xigbar!" The blur happened to be a painfully familiar blonde boy with a wide smile and a cheery aura so bright one almost had to shield their eyes. The stoner screamed, jumping back and grabbing his chest as if he was having a heart-attack, blurting out something about the ghost of Christmas past. The boy grinned in amusement at the stoner, who proceeded to calm himself down before recognizing the youth before him.

"Oh. Hey kid- Tiddy, right?"

This earned a light, almost musical laugh from his companion. "No, Tidus. Remember?" The blonde boy countered, quickening his pace slightly to keep up with Xigbar when the stoner began to walk. Unbeknownst to both Tidus and the rest of the group- the older male did indeed remember, considering it one of his less 'trippy' moments in life.

"Well, that was what, three weeks ago?" Xigbar murmured, his voice low and gruff- which meant that there was some level of contentment hidden deep down beneath that eye-less socket of his. Or his heart- it _could_ have been his heart... maybe indigestion. Axel nudged Roxas and pointed to the two, and the shorter boy raised a brow and watched the grin that lit the redhead's face.

Tidus glanced up, his brow creasing in confusion. "I met you two days ago, on Saturday." He murmured, although there was a light fluttering of humor in his voice. The older male raised an eyebrow, lips turning down in thought before he shook his head and waved a hand about, nearly smacking Tidus in the face in the process.

"Oh- well... two days, three weeks. What's the difference?" The stoner replied in a very '_Well, even the flying Tazmanian Pig from Bosnia knew **that**, you idiot_' tone. Tidus grinned again and shrugged.

"Maybe the time in between that you could get high?" He asked, watching in amusement as Xigbar's eyebrows shot up once again and a sly smirk pulled onto the stoner's mouth.

"Touchè." He muttered, and Tidus sent the older male a brilliant smile.

It was at that moment in time when Xigbar felt the barest wisp of air brush against the back of his neck, and he turned his head- intending to look at Tidus and squawking when his nose smashed into Demyx's cheek. With a startled cry, Xigbar wrenched his head back and slapped the obnoxious blonde boy in the face. Demyx jerked his head away as Tidus's laughter broke forth- snagging his attention away from Xigbar's fuming.

"Hey, Tidus!" The aforementioned teen calmed slightly, his face having been adorned with a fleeting look of surprise until it mirrored Demyx's smile.

"Hey, Demyx! I almost forgot you had this class too." The shorter teen looked sheepish for a moment, stepping to the side just a fraction to allow room for Demyx to squeeze between Xigbar and himself.

"It's 'cause you always sit way up at the front of the room! I never get to talk to you!" Demyx jutted his lower lip out in a playful pout, giving the blitzball player a soft punch to the shoulder.

Xigbar observed the interaction silently, then turned his gaze to his mohawk-sporting companion. "You know him?" It came out more like an accusation than a question as the stoner jerked his head in Tidus's direction. Why would Demyx know Tidus? Why did he even _care_?

Demyx blinked, his face screwing up in confusion as he spoke. "Well, yeah. We're both on the blitzball team together." Tidus nodded in affirmation. Considering blitzball season started in winter, it was amazing that Xigbar even remembered Demyx being on the team at all from the previous years.

"Go figure." Xigbar grumbled to himself, pushing Demyx in front of them so that the blonde ran into the locker room door. Demyx laughed and opened it for everyone, ruffling Roxas's hair when the blonde walked past, only to have it slapped away by Axel when the thin teen stepped up behind him.

As the other boys began to change, Roxas couldn't help but sneak a few glances at Axel, his eyes catching sight of Tidus and Demyx in the process. Both boys were shirtless and wrestling with each other to get to a candy bar that had fallen out of the pocket of Tidus's jeans.

Roxas felt envy stirring in his gut. Tidus may have been short like he was- but his body was lined with sinewy muscles; biceps that flexed whenever the blonde attempted to push Demyx away from the candy bar clutched tightly in his hand. Tidus's stomach was lined with the faintest outline of a six pack, and it moved with the boy's laughter. Roxas placed his shirt down on the bench and then laid his palms flat against his own equally flat torso. Pressing down, the skin was soft and flexible, bending beneath his fingertips with the pressure. He scowled, turning his gaze to Demyx, and taking note of how even though he was thin, with the lightest of outlines showing his ribcage, the junior had broad shoulders and muscles lining his chest and biceps.

It was then that Demyx's arms slipped around Tidus's midsection in an attempt to gain leverage in the fight and Xigbar roared out, "Okay! Stop fucking around and change already!" while tossing Demyx his shirt.

Roxas looked away from the scene and down to his own body- suddenly feeling very exposed and very unattractive. His hips were too narrow, his legs too thin and his small shoulders making him look even more effeminate. It was one of the reasons Roxas wore baggy clothes- to hide his body. His hands lifted to his head, feeling the annoying flip of unruly blonde hair with a small frown.

Warm hands slid down over his own and he jumped, but didn't turn. Long fingers ghosted down across his neck and shoulders, finding the dip between them and grasping gently.

"Don't bother feeling jealous of those two. They spend a lot of their time playing sports." Axel murmured into his ear. Within a half second, Roxas could feel his face heat up at the same time his stomach did summersaults. The hands on his shoulders left, choosing instead to grasp at Roxas's bicep- thumbs idly rubbing at the skin beneath.

"You have muscles- just not as much. Be happy with yourself." Axel's breath ghosted over the blonde teen's cheek and Roxas swallowed thickly. The redhead moved lower until he was grasping the curve of Roxas's hips with a firm but tentative hold. Roxas's heart fluttered wildly in his chest and he found himself short of breath and giddy at the same time.

"I like your body just fine, and so should y-"

"Axel! Stop molesting my baby brother in the locker room!" The hands jerked away from his hips just as Roxas jolted forward. Mortified, the blonde teen ignored Axel's vain protests with Sora, and ducked his head, hastily dressing in his gym clothes and all but rushing out of the locker room.

Seeing that he really had no idea where the football and track field was from the locker rooms, Roxas sat a few feet outside in hopes that someone else besides Axel or his brother would emerge.

No such luck. Sora sauntered out with one hand slung about Riku's waist and a very self-assured smirk on his normally cherubic face. "Baby brother!" Sora exclaimed, using his free hand to grasp Roxas by the shoulders and drag the blonde sophomore along with him. Roxas scowled- looking utterly disgruntled and relatively flustered from the incident that had occurred mere minutes before.

"What do you want, Sora?" Roxas asked darkly, feeling quite exposed and porn-film worthy in the gym uniform that seemed three sizes too small on him as the fabric brushed against every part of his body in ways more intimate than should be normal for clothing. Sora chuckled to himself as if Roxas had just told a very funny joke.

"I just wanted to know if you want in Axel's pants as much as he wants in yours." Roxas went rigid in Sora's grasp, feeling his face heat up to a new shade on the spectrum. With an annoyed growl escaping his throat, the mortified teenager jerked his shoulders out of Sora's grasp and stepped up to keep a few paces in front of the brunet.

"You're deluding yourself." The younger teen murmured with irritation. Sora merely granted him with an all knowing smirk of self-confidence and lifted an eyebrow, daring Roxas to truly deny what he was asking. Roxas didn't answer, and Sora beamed with a look of **triumph** before he grabbed Roxas by the front of his sinfully tight gym shirt and all but flung his little brother backwards, forcing him to stumble into a very thin, and very tall body- his cheek squishing up against the hard planes of Axel's stomach; the very nice, very comfortably hard planes of Axel's stomach.

Roxas jerked his head away with an inward wail of despair, feeling his cheeks and neck flare hotter than ever. Axel grinned down at him, using a long-fingered hand to help the blonde straighten himself. "Hey Roxas- a little clumsy today, aren't we?" Roxas ducked his head, murmuring a half-hearted term of agreement and trying to brutally mutilate the insane and burning sensation in his face that was telltale of his own blushing. Axel's hand moved to ruffle his hair before grasping Roxas's shoulder and with a half-hug, led the boy with everyone else out across the parking lot to the track.

As soon as Xaldin caught sight of them, he pointed to the field- where small groups had already begun to jog lazily onto the track. The beastly teacher blew his whistle as a starting signal, and the students, depending on who gave a shit about their grade, either shot off down the track or started at as leisurely a pace as they pleased. Roxas joined up with Axel as the lanky teen began to jog, along with the rest of their slightly-deranged group.

Roxas knew he could be a bit faster, had he had a competitive side like Riku or Sora (who were currently running full speed and pressing their shoulders against each other to push one another off the track, trying not to laugh as loudly as they were). Instead, he kept his steady jog. It was more of an effort than Axel and Demyx were putting forth, who were a few yards behind Roxas, chatting and barely going the speed of a brisk walk. Even Xigbar, who was a bit ahead of Roxas, was at least trying.

It was more of a shot to their ego than anything when Tidus- who had left the locker room with Xigbar before taking off running down the track-- zipped past and continued down the track at a painfully fast pace. Behind him, Roxas heard Demyx loud voice yell, "Run, Tidus, run!" Though whether the blonde boy heard it or not, Roxas didn't know, because Tidus kept running. The group was nearly on their second lap when Tidus darted past again- only to be halted by Xigbar's hand snapping out and nearly strangling the boy as he grabbed onto the back of Tidus's gym shirt.

"Alright. Quit fuckin' showing off already." The elder teen growled out angrily, tugging Tidus back so that the blond boy was walking in pace with him. A look of confusion dashed onto the sophomore's face before he tilted his head back to look up at the older male beside him.

"I was showing off?" As soon as the sentence escaped him, Xigbar growled out something along the lines of 'annoying bastard' and began to violently ruffle Tidus's hair- much to the blond's dismay. Xigbar pulled back just as Tidus began to explain different breathing techniques when running and listening to Xigbar shoot them all down with why they wouldn't work properly (most excuses involving the ingestion of some drug or other).

Xaldin's whistle startled Roxas into seeing Axel being caught cutting through the football field at a sprint whenever he thought the furry man was still talking to one of his students. Axel froze mid-way and turned around when the raven haired man boomed his name out.

"Everybody in! We have a show to watch!" Roxas turned, peering at Demyx with raised eyebrows of inquiry. Demyx merely shrugged and led him to the bleachers. Axel too, followed the same path as the rest of the students- until Xaldin had his say in it. "Hara! Get back on the track. You're going to show all of us the proper way to run around the track." Axel stared at the man like he'd just grown a large phallus from his left nostril, but Xaldin's face remained un-changing of that ever-present smirk. The redhead released a defeated and utterly infuriated groan and returned to the track.

"Get in position!" Axel leaned forward, one knee in front of his body with both hands on the heated tar below him. Xaldin's whistle let out a short burst as Roxas took his seat on a front bleacher with Demyx and the others. Axel shot off down the track, encouraged by his peers with catcalls and yells. Axel's fast speed only lasted him a quarter of the run- and soon, the redhead was slowing down, his strides still as long as ever. When he reached the halfway mark, Xaldin blew his whistle again.

"Hustle, Hara! I've seen children with Parkinson's that can do better than that!" Axel didn't make any movement that showed he heard the man, and kept going, mouth open and gasping for air as he reached the three-quarter mark. One of the students at a higher point of the bleachers called out, "Dangle a pack of cigarettes in front of him! It'll make him run faster!" and sent the majority of the class into an uproar of laughter- sans Roxas and Tidus. The former discouraged while the latter was confused. Axel must have heard him, because he too started to laugh, and tripped over his own feet, hitting the track ground with an unkempt flailing of arms. Xaldin chuckled and blew his whistle again.

"Everyone into the gym!" The class seemed to be in lighter spirits, and they obeyed, stepping off the bleachers and making their way across the football field. Roxas stood up and walked over to where Axel was kneeling down, gasping in air to catch his breath. Demyx knelt down and patted the redhead on the back, while Axel shot him a dirty look. It seemed Tidus and Xigbar had already made their way to the gym with Riku and Sora while Roxas chose this moment to gloat.

"There's a reason that smoking kills." He said smugly, his arms crossing as Axel was helped to his feet by Demyx. The redhead shot him an unreadable look, but straightened his body and stretched his arms in an attempt to help regulate his breathing.

"Smoking kills, but killing the habit is just as much torture. It's not as easy as you think, Roxas. Not when I've been doing it for as long as I have." Roxas's smug mood seemed to deflate and he sighed, reaching out a hand to grab Axel's arm and stop the taller male from walking away from him.

"Does that mean I can't worry about my friend's welfare?" Axel grinned and shook his head, breaths still sharp and escaping his mouth.

"Not at all, Roxas." They followed Demyx across the field and towards where the gym was located. There was still another half hour left of class, and Roxas intended to sit in a nice corner of the gym and do his homework. The gym was attached to the locker rooms, and once they'd changed (Roxas made sure to do this quickly and without looking up again) the group paraded out to the gym, where Demyx caught sight of Marluxia and Larxene (who happened to have fourth period PE) seated in a far corner with Xigbar, Tidus, Riku and Sora. Releasing a squawk of utter glee that could possibly be described as the sound a turtle makes when given an injection of heroin, Demyx pranced over to the group and took a seat at the very corner once he'd successfully shoved Marluxia out of the way. Axel and Roxas followed, the blonde sitting beside Demyx and Axel between Roxas and Xigbar.

Marluxia's gaze landed on Tidus as the boy plopped down beside Xigbar. A delighted coo left the rosy haired teenager, hands clapping together and fingers lacing as his mandatory plethora of bracelets chimed gently. "Who's the cutie?" He asked, voice purring softly. Xigbar's face contorted into a scowl and he motioned his hand to Marluxia.

"Tidus, this is Marluxia. He's gayer than a pair of crushed velvet pants at Versace." Tidus's face slowly became a look of dawning realization and he pointed to the effeminate male at the other end of their deformed circular shape.

"So **you're** the big pink fairy who's obsessed with flowers?" Marluxia let out an indignant huff, placing a hand against his chest in preparation for a very hearty comeback when Larxene's biting voice cut him off, saying, "How many shrimpy blue-eyed blonds are you assholes planning to suck the virgin souls out of so that they'll join our cult?" Both Axel and Xigbar shot her hideous glares, ignoring the laughter of Demyx, Marluxia and Sora.

"This is Larxene. She's a crazy bitch." The petite girl moved forward to stab Xigbar in the shin with her pencil when a volleyball thwacked against the wall just above Axel's head and landed in the redhead's crossed legs.

Axel scowled, his gaze dropping down to the volleyball with disdain, lifting it up and glancing about to see Seifer's lackey, Raijin, standing nearby with his hands outstretched- indicating to Axel to toss the ball to him. Axel did so, ignoring how the dark-skinned teen didn't bother to thank him as he jogged back to the net nearby, where Seifer, Fuujin and a few others stood waiting for the return of their ball. The group resumed listening as Demyx began to tell a story of what had occurred in his third period class. At one point, everyone's laughter was interrupted by the same volleyball from moments before flying in and hitting Demyx in the head. The blonde haired teenager let out a shout of surprised pain and clutched his head as Axel sent Seifer a string of loud obscenities and a flashing of his middle finger amidst the general group's laughter at Demyx's pain. The musically-inclined teenager was rewarded with no apology and a smirk from Seifer when the ball was returned.

The third time it happened, Sora was the victim- it hit the brunet's back with a sickening thud that had the teen shouting in pain and arching his spine while Riku asked the boy if he was alright. Larxene's hand snatched out to grab the ball and hold it to her chest just as Seifer and Rai jogged up. "Hey- give us the ball back! It's ours, y'know!" Larxene shot them a dirty look and continued to hold tightly to the ball.

"It's not your ball and you fuckfaces keep hitting us with it anyway." She hissed out, her fingernails digging into the thick surface of the volleyball. Seifer rolled his eyes, muscular arms stretching out and grasping onto the ball. Larxene hunched over just as Seifer wrenched back and she was sent sprawling outwards, practically lying against the gym floor as the blonde bully attempted to wrench the volleyball out of her relentless grasp. The corner of the gym was filled with shouts as a sick game of tug-o-war began, Seifer's companions cheering for him as even Roxas joined in at telling Larxene not to let go of the ball.

The blonde girl's grasp was lost whenever Seifer began to swing his arms to and fro while walking backwards, and with a triumphant yell, the blonde-haired bastard wrenched the volleyball free and jogged back to the net as Larxene hissed and returned to where she sat between Marluxia and Sora. The blonde girl began to bicker with Marluxia about different techniques to disembowel Seifer and his cronies while Tidus nudged Xigber with an elbow, and earned a look of inquiry from the stoner.

"What kinda drugs do you take? Like, a lot?" Tidus murmured under his breath, looking up at the older male with honest curiosity. Xigbar breathed in deeply, letting out a half-sigh through his nose as the muscles in his jaw flexed. For a moment, he didn't speak, but then his lips parted and Tidus all but leant forward.

"I... forgot." Xigbar mumbled, and Tidus's head fell in exasperation before he laughed lightly. The blonde boy lifted a hand to run it through his hair and grinned up at the older man. Xigbar grunted and crossed his arms. "Lots, little dude. Maybe I'll show you one day. You ever heard of Crystal Meth?" Tidus shook his head, lifting his knees to wrap his arms around them.

"What's it do?" A white blur caught the blonde's attention before Xigbar let out a scream whenever a volleyball hit him square in the face, causing the stoner's head to snap back and crack against the wall a mere half second later. Tidus's eyes snapped wide as Xigbar let out a partially coherent scream of, "FUCKING SEA DRAGON!" Hands flying to cup his face and the back of his head, curling forward into a fetal position for a moment before his head snapped up to fixate a heated glare upon Seifer and the rest of his cronies, who were laughing wildly and pointing to their corner of the gym.

"I will shoot you in the FUCKING face." The stoner snarled, moving to stand when Tidus's small hands pressed against his shoulder, urging the stoner to sit down as he stood himself. There was a sudden rage in the younger boy's eyes, and it was as if his entire body was lit with an internal fire. Tidus snatched the ball from Sora, walking over the boy and storming off towards Seifer with a growl. Xigbar watched him go, his single eye following the blonde's every movement. "... That's hot." He said lightly, fingers laced behind his throbbing head in an attempt to ease the splitting headache that was dawning.

":Hey!" Tidus reared his arm back and flung it forward, almost hitting Seifer in the face- had the blonde not reacted at the last minute and caught it. "You guys are real assholes! You think you're hot shit?" Seifer smirked and rested the volleyball against his hip. A snarl grew on the boy's face and Seifer began to bounce the ball up and down in his right hand.

"Jealous, chickenwuss?" Seifer called out, his arm stilling as the ball rested precariously in his poised arm, "Well eat this!" Seifer wrenched his hand back and then shot it forward, sending the volleyball whistling towards Tidus's face. Without even a second thought, Tidus's arm snapped out, his fisted hand striking the volleyball in a very similar fashion to how one would punt a blitzball. The object rocketed back the way it had come, connecting point-blank with Seifer's crotch. The aforementioned blonde let out an embarrassingly girly shriek, hands flying to cup his nether regions as he sank to his knees and then keeled forward until his head thudded against the gym floor with a pathetic moan.

From all over the gym, most noticeably from Axel's group in the corner, came a loud chorus of the demeaning "_Ohhhhh!" _As Tidus strode back to the others.

"Kid," Larxene announced as soon as Tidus had reclaimed his seat beside Xigbar. "You are officially one of us." The blonde eyed her oddly, swaying a bit and grabbing onto the older male's knee before he sat up and pulled his hand away, never once noticing the strained look that had crossed Xigbar's face.

"Why am I one of y-" Another volleyball shot into their circle, this time hitting a distracted Tidus in the side of the head. The group no longer burst into laughter as they had before- instead this time shouting out profanities as Tidus scowled, clutching the ball like a hooker would to a hundred dollar bill.

Rai jogged up to them, smiling to himself. "Give us the ball back. It was an accident, y'know." Tidus shook his head, confidence brimming up as he moved to stuff it between his and Xigbar's bodies, scooching as close as he comfortably could to the senior in order to hide the ball. Rai's face contorted into a scowl and he stepped over Larxene, shrieking whenever the girl stabbed him in the shin with her pencil. The dark haired teen disregarded the threat and stepped towards Tidus and Xigbar, his eyes narrowed.

"It's not your ball, y'know. Ya can't keep it like that, y'know." Tidus sent Raijiin a grin that fully stated 'why yes, yes I can.' and snuggled his body up against Xigbar's, hiding the volleyball between their bodies. Xigbar swallowed thickly, his fingers clenching and un-clenching before he sent a raised eyebrow up at the intruder, daring Rai to do something to them when he was in enemy territory.

He did.

With a sudden swiftness that only years of being on the basketball team had, Raijiin had leaned forward and grabbed Tidus by his golden hair, forcing the sophomore to follow his movements as he wrenched his arm back, pulling Tidus's body off of the ball and earning a shout of pain from him, along with multiple roars of anger as his free hand wrapped around the volleyball before Xigbar could grab it. He released Tidus, throwing the boy's small body back down against Xigbar's with a triumphant shout and running off before the group could react. Tidus nursed his head, teeth clenched in a grimace as Xigbar placed a wary hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, little dude, y'alright?" He asked gruffly, earning a pained nod from the blonde boy.

"Yeah... it just hurt. I've always kind of had a sensitive scalp. It's no big deal." Xigbar didn't seem too pleased with this, and sat back again, this time pinching the back of Tidus's shirt and pulling the boy up next to him. Tidus complied without protest, his fingers still clutching where Rai had grabbed his hair so roughly.

Xigbar let out an insufferable sigh and reached his hand up, placing it over Tidus's so that the younger male would drop his hands. Tidus did so with a look of curiosity and inhaled sharply when strong fingers began to gently massage his injured scalp. Ocean eyes fluttered shut and Tidus leaned into the touch with a hum of approval, though Xigbar was looking anywhere but at him, his single eye trained somewhere off into the bleachers as Axel snickered and Demyx cooed with Marluxia and Sora. They sat like that for a while, Tidus's head eventually falling against Xigbar's shoulder as the older man continued his ministrations.

Another volleyball rocketed into the group, this time hitting Roxas on the top of the head and then bouncing off while the blonde was still dazed and landing in the center of their circle. Axel halted in the middle of talking to the blonde boy and snatched up the volleyball with a well-known look of **vengeance**. Xigbar jumped when the redhead reached out and buried his hand into the stoner's left pocket- the one closest to him. Xigbar looked utterly disgruntled, pausing for only a second in stroking Tidus's soft hair to look at Axel.

"Can I _help_ you?" He asked roughly. Axel ignored him, procuring a closed butterfly knife from Xigbar's pocket with a shout of triumph. In a blur of skin and metal, Axel's wrist flicked the knife around until the blade was visible and secure, his hand grasping the handle of the knife before it snapped forward and into the volleyball, popping it with a loud bang and then grinning in self satisfaction as it hissed and began to rapidly deflate just as Rai jogged over again. Axel quickly flicked the butterfly knife closed and jabbed it back into Xigbar's pocket as Rai stared at the volleyball in disbelief. Axel shot the dark-skinned teen a wide grin. "Sorry. It was an accident." The redhead apologized, tossing the deflated ball like a Frisbee back to its owner before he turned to give Roxas a thumbs up. Roxas, on the other hand, didn't seem the slightest bit pleased, and scowled at the redhead.

"You shouldn't have done that." He said, softly but firmly. Axel immediately took on a kicked puppy persona. He looked so put down that it seemed like even his hair had deflated, and Roxas rolled his eyes. "What if you get in trouble for destroying school property?" The blonde asked. Axel grinned and darted his tongue out to wet his lips for a moment- something that Roxas's eyes couldn't help but follow.

"Xaldin's really too lazy to give a shit whether or not I pop a-" Before he could finish speaking, the aforementioned teacher appeared next to the group, holding the deflated ball in his hairy grasp. The man looked disgruntled, and waved the limp ball about wildly.

"Who popped this?" Demyx's hand rose before Axel could speak- taking the blame upon himself without a second thought. Xaldin's scowl increased, and it seemed like his sideburns bushed out in thought before he threw the pathetic excuse for a volleyball back to Demyx and then procured a set of keys from his pocket, tossing it to the blonde and ignoring the shriek of disgust Demyx emitted before batting the keys away with the flat ball.

"Go get a new one." Demyx gingerly lifted the keys as if they were a diseased animal and then grinned, nodding at the monstrosity of a teacher and pushing himself to his feet. Xaldin grunted like a mighty beast and walked off. Demyx reached past Axel and grabbed onto Roxas's wrist, lifting the blonde boy to his feet.

"Come on, Roxas. Lets go get us a volleyball!" As Demyx dragged Roxas away, Axel's hands outstretched towards their departing figures, a loud and dramatic " Noooooooo! Come back!" escaping the thin teen. His motions were cut short when Larxene stabbed his open palm with her pencil, and Axel retracted his hands with an indignant shout of pain. Tidus laughed loudly, though he soon stopped- flushing when the group's attention was turned to him. Xigbar chuckled and ruffled the blonde boy's hair.

"Demyx, I don't think you need two people to get _one_ volleyball." Roxas murmured- just the littlest bit put out to be dragged off and away from his human heating unit formerly known as Axel the man-twig. Demyx grinned back at Roxas, releasing his hand and handing him the deflated volleyball when they reached the supply closet.

"Sure we do." Demyx searched through the keys, testing each one until he found the correct one- a black one with an S etched onto it, and jabbed it into the lock and twisting the doorknob until the door opened, shooting Roxas a look of triumph and tossing him the keys.

"I'm gonna get us some tennis balls too. Hold onto those, alright? And make sure you don't close the door." Roxas didn't notice the almost warning in Demyx's voice- instead merely nodding with a small sign of obedience towards his older friend. Demyx looked grateful and disappeared into the supply closet. It was only a scant few seconds later when Roxas heard the shuffling of feet and began to turn- just fractionally catching a glimpse of Seifer's grinning face before a set of hands thumped against his back, causing Roxas to drop both the keys and the deflated ball in shock as he tripped forward and into the supply closet. He turned around just in time to see the door slam shut and for the lock to click in place just as Demyx lunged at the doorknob.

The musically-inclined teen's face flashed with panic as he jiggled the doorknob for a minute, twisting it left and right fiercely and then shaking the door so that it rattled loudly. Roxas could hear the hitch in Demyx's breath, and watched as his companion started to pound the door with his right fist while still trying to open it with the other. "He-hey! Come on, this isn't funny. Haha, okay, let me out! Seifer!" Demyx's voice seemed almost fearful, and Roxas stood where he was, watching as his blonde haired friend soon became even more frantic, his voice gasping and his attacks on the door becoming more violent.

"Come on! Open the door! Please!" Demyx's fists both began to beat harshly upon the thick industrial door, sharp breaths escaping his open mouth that soon bordered on hyperventilation. From where he was, Roxas could see Demyx's hands shaking wildly, his legs quivering so badly it looked like the teen was about to collapse at any minute. "Open the door!" It was a broken shout that tore off into a half-sob, followed by muttering and another yelled plea. Roxas approached the gasping blonde, hand reaching out to place it against Demyx's shoulder only to have his friend lash out, catching Roxas in the stomach and sending him stumbling back into a rack of blitzball equipment, causing it to rain down upon him. Roxas flinched, his arms reaching up to protect his head.

Demyx's hands rose up to grip his hair tightly, pausing for a few ragged intakes of air.

"L-let me out! Please! Please don't leave me in here!" More gasps. This time, they were painful and wheezing struggles for air. Demyx was hyperventilating, and badly. Roxas knew that sometimes if it became too bad, that the person wouldn't be able to breathe, and it seemed like if they were trapped for much longer- Demyx could possibly collapse from asphyxiation. Roxas didn't know what was happening. He'd never seen Demyx freak out like this. He'd never seen _anyone_ freak out like this. It was scaring him.

Roxas ducked his head, grasping his stomach to try and dull the throbbing pain that still existed from Demyx's hit. /_Snap out of it!_/ He reprimanded himself. Demyx was his friend- someone who'd made sure to stay by his side- even if Roxas was about as unresponsive as a log at times. He had to help him. Roxas gripped the equipment rack beside him and hauled himself up, his stomach giving a painful twinge. There was a thud against the other side of the door, and Axel's muffled voice spoke up- barely audible over Demyx's strangled gasps for air as the older blonde struggled to drag air back into his lungs.

"Demyx! Demyx, hang on!" There was a shuffling, and the doorknob jiggled before it flew open, causing Demyx to fall outwards and into Axel's outstretched arms. The redhead collapsed to the ground, unable to bear the sudden weight easily. Demyx's fingers grasped the taller teen's black jacket tightly, strangled breaths wheezing from his open mouth, unshed tears gathering in those gorgeous aqua eyes. The whole scene he'd just experienced was something that Roxas had definitely not expected, and he turned his head away just as Axel's body began to rock back and forth, long fingers running along the expanse of Demyx's back in a soothing manor, hushed whispers of comfort escaping Axel's lips.

The blonde teen continued to gasp, barely able to breathe to a point that Axel had to right Demyx's body so that he could place a hand against Demyx's chest, forcing him to take in slower breaths. "It's alright, Demyx. Breathe, okay?" The redhead murmured softly, his brilliant green eyes brimmed with an overwhelming sense of guilt and worry. Demyx gave him a shaky nod, his chest forcing Axel's hand up and down as he tried to take in gulps of air, being forced to slow down in his gasps. It took a few moments for him to calm, and Roxas began to see a completely new side of Axel... one that he was starting to fall for as quickly as the first time Roxas had seen him smile.

"It's alright, Demyx. You're fine." Axel murmured into Demyx's ear, his sad eyes turning upwards to stare at Roxas with a gaze full of pleading to know what happened. Roxas obliged, his voice low- but not so much that it couldn't be heard over Demyx's ragged breaths.

"Demyx went in to get a new ball and some tennis balls, I was standing out in front of the door, holding it open. I heard something and I turned around when Seifer shoved me into the storage closet with Demyx, and he locked the door behind me." It seemed that the mere mention of Seifer's name had caused Axel's face to darken significantly, and his arms visibly tightened their hold on Demyx, his hand finally leaving the blonde's heaving chest once Demyx was able to breathe better, and holding his best friend in a vice grip. There was a hiss from beside them and Roxas looked up to see his brother looking more livid than he had ever witnessed Sora to be. In actuality, both Marluxia and Riku held tightly to each of the brunette's arms as he tried to break out of their grasp.

"I'm going to kill him." Sora snarled vehemently, ignoring Riku's attempts to calm him and Marluxia's pathetic reasoning that Seifer wasn't worth Sora's time. Roxas's brows furrowed and he looked to Axel in confusion, silently questioning what had just occurred in the past ten minutes.

"Demyx is claustrophobic. Has been since we were kids." Axel muttered, one hand lifting to run through Demyx's wild dirty blonde locks of hair as he tilted his head down to mutter something into Demyx's ear, earning a shaky but rapid nod from his friend. Demyx's grip on Axel had loosened, becoming almost weak.

Xaldin approached, his hairy legs stomping against the linoleum floor as he stopped in front of the scattered group. Larxene sighed roughly, deciding that she would be the one to explain the situation to him, and approached the man, hands on thin hips and eyes narrowed.

"Seifer Almasy locked both Roxas and Demyx in the supply closet. Demyx had a panic attack." At Xaldin's look of confusion, she elaborated. "He's clausterphobic. If we hadn't seen Seifer coming back this way and gone to find them, Demyx could have collapsed because he can't breathe whenever he's panicking." Xaldin seemed to understand this, and thought quietly for a moment before speaking.

"Well, even if Seifer _did _lock them in there, I'm sure he didn't know about Demyx's claustrophobia. That's not something you can tell just by looking at a person- so we can't be expected to punish him for it." Axel's face contorted into a look of suppressed fury, and his head snapped up to glare at Xaldin, clutching Demyx's body against his chest from where they were seated on the ground.

"That bastard knows damn well that Demyx is claustrophobic! That's probably the whole reason he did it!" The redhead bit out harshly, and Xaldin sighed insufferably.

"I'll see what I can do about it. Until then, you'll have to take him to the infirmary. Both you and Roxas are dismissed for the rest of the period. I don't want to hear about either of you wandering around campus though, you got that?" Roxas nodded, as did Axel, before walking over to the two teens on the floor and helping Axel pick Demyx up, the both of them needing to assist the blonde teen right himself, his body weak from the lack of oxygen. Demyx's legs wobbled dangerously and he started to sink down to the ground again, his breathing still labored- though only a fraction as badly as it had been before. Axel ended up supporting most of his weight, while Roxas held tightly to Demyx's trembling hand and guided them down the hall.

-----

It seemed as if life had slowed down to a standstill, and for the next week, Demyx hardly spoke to Roxas- though it didn't seem to stop his cheerful demeanor from blinding everyone. Roxas assumed that Demyx was ashamed in some way- having been forced to show Roxas another side of himself so much in three days. Roxas didn't mind, though. He just allowed the older boy time to get over it, and by the following Monday, Demyx was back to harassing Roxas as per usual, all smiles and laughter, and the occasional attempt at tickling a grin out of Roxas. (Though it should have been apparent that only Axel was allowed to do that)

At the same time Demyx distanced himself from Roxas- Axel had seemed to be getting closer. Wherever they went, Roxas and Axel shared the occasional brushing of hands, thighs, and shoulders. Axel's hand was almost always on his lower back, guiding him to places Roxas already knew the location of.

It was at lunch on Wednesday that same week when it happened. Zexion had been sitting at the lunch table when they'd arrived- and oddly enough, his book was closed. Roxas was easily able to read the title 'How I paid for College'. He had never seen the periwinkle-blue haired teen without his book open. There must have been something wrong, something that was keeping him from being able to read.

His silent questions were answered whenever Zexion's gaze gravitated towards Demyx, who happened to be arguing with Tidus over whether or not you could drink the water in the blitzball dome.

Axel and the others took their seats at the same time Zexion stood up, placing his book on the questionably-clean lunch table and approaching the sixteen-year old, pausing just in front of him. "Demyx...can I talk to you for a minute? Alone?" Zexion asked softly, lowering his voice so only the blonde boy he was speaking to could hear.

Demyx quirked his eyebrow in confusion, the cheer in his aqua eyes fading for a moment as he watched Zexion with a hidden wariness. There were a few moments of silence, but Demyx soon nodded. "Yeah, sure." He murmured, and Zexion bobbed his head in a nod of gratitude, and reached his arm out to grasp the blonde's wrist and lead him off to another end of the cafeteria.

Roxas's gaze left the two retreating figures for a moment to take notice that Tidus had seated himself next to Xigbar instead of going off to sit with his blitzball friends. Since last Friday, Tidus had chosen to sit with their group more often- usually just visiting near the end of the lunch period instead of staying with them right off the bat. As per usual, the one-eyed male began relaying a story of very questionable origins, only now he had the small blonde beside him cracking up along with Larxene's snarky input.

Axel, who seemed to be the only one who had noticed two of their companion's absence, turned and scanned the crowds of students. The redhead's eyes widened slightly.

"Shit." Axel cursed, causing Roxas to pick his head up in inquiry as to why exactly his red-haired companion would be spewing forth random profanity. Axel's stunning jade eyes were narrowed and directed on where Zexion's hand was grasping Demyx's and pulling him to a more secluded area of the cafeteria.

"What's wrong?" Roxas asked softly, causing Axel to glance at him and Marluxia to look up from where he had been absently listening to Xigbar's tale. The rosy-haired boy set a scowl on his lightly tanned face, placing his fork down and moving to stand up.

"Marx, don't. He's gonna have to find out himself." Axel said softly, grasping onto Marluxia's elbow and pulling him down into the seat again. From on the other side of the annoyingly thin teenager, Roxas frowned.

"Find out what? Is there something wrong?" Axel glanced at the blonde beside him, shaking his head curtly.

"No. Zexion's just.. he's gonna tell Demyx how he feels- watch." Axel pointed and Roxas re-directed his gaze to the duo near the other end of the cafeteria.

Zexion's hands were holding tightly to Demyx's, his lips moving as the smaller blonde's smiling face slowly started to fall. Demyx spoke and Roxas wished he could see Zexion's expression, but his hair covered a good portion of his face. Zexion glanced down, and Demyx leaned forward, pushing himself up onto his tip-toes and pressing a soft kiss to Zexion's left cheek and uttering something else- to which Zexion slowly nodded and released Demyx's hands.

"Well, that's good, right? Because he kissed him?" Roxas murmured, tearing his eyes away from the duo in the corner to look at the two sitting next to him. Axel and Marluxia exchanged a grim look before they both slowly shook their heads.

"That's the rejection kiss that Demyx gives to everyone that's ever admitted their crush on him." Marluxia explained, making a flippant hand motion to the side, though his facial expression portrayed that what they were talking about was anything _but_ flippant.

Roxas lips turned down, his brows furrowing in thought. "Why would you kiss someone you're rejecting?" The blonde asked. It was odd- like an oxymoron. Kissing the one you didn't like had no logic in it.

This time, Axel spoke. "Well, Demyx feels kind of responsible, I guess- he feels bad that he doesn't return the other person's feelings, so he tries to be affectionate to make up for it, or something." The redhead explained quietly. Marluxia's nodding pulled Roxas's attention away from his thoughts and he looked up at the rosy-haired boy.

Roxas caught his bottom lip between his teeth, biting down gently, completely oblivious to the strained look that had painted itself on Axel's face, glancing down at the table before looking up at the older boys. "They seemed like they would make a good couple, though." He released his bottom lip completely, and it rested back into its original position, lush and pink. Axel swallowed thickly and Marluxia patted the redhead on the shoulder while Roxas gave them both odd looks before he continued.

"I wonder why Demyx doesn't like Zexion?" The second Roxas looked away to search the cafeteria for Zexion and Demyx, Axel's mouth dropped open and his hands rose to the air, making grappling motions as he mouthed out the words 'whyyyyy?'

Axel's hands fell and his lips snapped shut as soon as Roxas turned back around, clearing his throat as Marluxia answered the blonde's question with a wry grin. "It really makes no sense, but since I met him back in ninth grade, Demyx hasn't been attracted to anyone his age." The rosy haired teen stated, leaning forward to rest his arms on the table. "I guess you could call it an older man complex."

Roxas's brows furrowed. A complex usually meant an obsession of sorts- like a fixation. "Dem's got this thing for guys who are usually in their twenties, at least four years older than he is." Axel clarified, and Roxas realized that his assumptions were, in fact, correct. He let out a small 'oh' of understanding.

At some point, the others had become aware of their missing friends as Xigbar's tale died away in favor of scouting the cafeteria corner like Axel, Roxas, and Marluxia had done minutes before. It was apparent, though, that Demyx and Zexion's conversation was over as they turned and began walking.

Everyone immediately turned their eyes away from Demyx and Zexion, pretending to house their own conversations as the duo made their way over to the group's table. "It's fine. I think he knew this was going to happen. Just don't think too much on it, alright?" Axel said under his breath as Zexion sat down first a little ways away from them, looking utterly crushed. Demyx bit his lip, hovering for a minute before taking a seat right beside the darker-haired teen and scooting close until he could lean his head on Zexion's shoulder. Zexion looked away, the muscle in his jaws flexing as he clenched his teeth.

"Please don't, Demyx." Zexion hissed out. Demyx looked saddened, but sat up, watching Zexino for a moment before inching away until he was closer to Axel and Roxas. Demyx cast his eyes downward, hands fidgeting in his lap with the slightly frayed hem of his shirt

"I…" The blonde began, letting out a low breath before starting up once more, "I'm sorry, Zexion. Please don't be mad." He pleaded softly, reaching out as if to touch the older boy's arm, then drawing his hand back.

Zexion didn't speak for a moment, reaching out to grab his closed book from where it sat near Roxas and pulling it towards himself, staring down at the cover so that locks of dark hair fell down to obscure his face from view, navy tips brushing against his pursed lips. "I'm not mad, Demyx." He murmured lowly, fingers clutching the spine and cover of his book, never turning his gaze to the one he was speaking to. He left it at that, and the hidden message was easily sent out. _Don't do things that you don't mean._

It was then that there was an utterly feminine shriek from somewhere off near them as a black-clad redhead by the name of Jack Spicer shot past them. The group watched for a moment as he was chased by Demyx's friend Sai. It all seemed to make sense when Jack screamed out, "Get away from me, you penis monster!" and ran out of the cafeteria, Sai in tow.

An awkward silence passed before Tidus's laughter broke the haze of quiet, followed by a relieved sigh from Marluxia and a twitch of a smile from Xigbar. Sora placed his hands on the table to help gain leverage to stand. "Me and Riku are gonna get some food, anyone want anything?" Once the duo took orders, Zexion stood up with Riku.

"I'll go too." The stoic teen murmured, and quietly followed the young couple. Silence reigned for a few more moments before Tidus leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. "So…are all you guys gay?" It was asked in the same way that a child would question where babies came from, and every single set of eyes present gravitated towards that child. Roxas slapped his hand to his forehead just as Axel snorted loudly. "_No_," He protested. "I'm bi. I appreciate the hot-dogs _and_ the buns." As he said this, the redhead used his hands to signify two different areas of the table.

Xigbar grunted, his arms crossing and leaning back the slightest in his chair as Demyx held back a bark of laughter. "Axel's straight like spaghetti."

"..." A cricket chirped nearby just as Roxas internally wept, his face portraying the look of someone whose whole world was falling apart. Axel's elbow shot out and rammed into Demyx's side, and the blond shrieked- his arms flipping out.

"You guys don't know that joke?" No reply, and Demyx released an irritated groan. "You know. Spaghetti _is_ straight... until you heat it up."

Roxas's world pieced itself back together as Tidus's laughter danced across the entire table, filling the group with a warm and fuzzy feeling. The blitzball player waved his hands about- as if attempting to dispel his laughter, and Xigbar cracked a smile.

"Yeah, so basically, the only one here remotely straight is Larxene... and maybe Xigbar- but Xigbar likes both, don't'cha?" Demyx bobbed his head towards the stoner and was rewarded with a curt nod. Tidus's face seemed to light up and his cheeks dotted with the faintest trace of pink, peering to the side at the older male.

The group fell back into relaxed chatter until Sora and the other returned with arms full of munchies and otherwise unhealthy foods to ingest. They took their seats, and Tidus was given Xigbar's bag of chips when the blonde asked for a few.

"So which way does little Tidus swing?" Marluxia nearly cooed, leaning forward and resting his chin in his hand, a few stray locks of pale pink hair falling into his face. Tidus's head snapped towards the effeminate male before he glanced down at his hands while they fidgeted with the bag of chips and muttered something under his breath. Marluxia and Xigbar leaned forward as the former teen piped up. "I'm sorry, Tidus. I couldn't hear you."

"I don't really like girls that much because they like to manipulate and depend too much on what a person is feeling and expect guys to be empathic." Tidus repeated, this time louder. Marluxia's eyebrows shot up and disappeared into his hairline while the rest of the group stared at the boy in a mixture of surprise and pleasure.

"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" Sora piped up brightly, discreetly sliding his hand across the table toward Roxas's chip bag, only to have it viciously slapped away. Tidus's face broke into a brilliant smile that was soon spread throughout the table. It seemed that the young blonde was relieved to be so easily accepted by a group of guys around his age without the hassle of being teased for his sexual preference.

Sora lifted his hotdog to his nose, sniffing deeply and then scrunching his face up. "It smells like a combination of feet, ass, and horse leather." Tidus burst out laughing and Axel choked on his own hotdog and then nearly spat it back out onto the foil wrapper that it had come with. Roxas's hand gently patted against the redhead's back and Axel shot the smaller boy a smile of gratitude, which was returned with a half smile. The lunch bell rang not long after, and the group began to part ways to get to their next periods.

Demyx walked alongside Zexion, hoping to cheer up the taller teenager. His light aqua eyes watched as Axel and Roxas's hands bumped together from where the duo walked only a few feet ahead of him. To Demyx's amazement, Axel's pinky finger stretched out and hooked onto Roxas's, tugging it close in some semblance of a handhold. Demyx glanced to where Zexion's left hand rested at his side, and then back to Roxas and Axel's hands as they curled their index fingers together.

The blonde junior reached his hand out and slid it into Zexion's- but it seemed to have been the wrong thing to do, because the indigo haired boy wrenched his hand back and leveled Demyx with a look of utter heartbreak and betrayal before storming forward- breaking through Axel and Roxas's hands and towards the school's exit.

Demyx bit down on his bottom lip, feeling like the worst person on the surface of the earth when Axel shifted uncomfortably and proceeded to rest his hand into his pocket instead.

Zexion was not in World History class, nor did Roxas think that the older teen was in any of his other classes. After breaking through his one special moment with Axel, it looked like Zexion had left campus all together. Roxas let out a shaky breath. That was the first time Axel had touched him in a way that was strictly of the 'I like you' contact- and Zexion had destroyed it. The blond couldn't help but feel a bit of irritation towards the brokenhearted senior.

It wasn't until Band did something eventful happen- that being the fact that, not only were they assigned a new piece of music, but the Saxophone section in itself was physically incapable of producing a sound even remotely close to what the piece required.

"Alright, kiddos. The Dance of the Darling really isn't that hard. See, you're just hitting a pretty high note, so try to put your index finger here, and then play it." Mr. Donovan, better known as Mr. Zack, explained gently, using his own saxophone to try and demonstrate the proper technique. Roxas, along with his fellow saxophone players, followed suit.

"Now play it." The room was filled with the sickening honks of a dozen geese being strangled brutally by what could have possibly been the tattered remains of a doublemint gum wrapper while simultaneously being sucker punched in the pancreas.

Zack winced, his upper lip drawn back and eyes scrunched shut until the saxophone section went silent. He peeked an eye open. "That wasn't just worse, it was 'chew my arm off and beat you with a bloody stump' worse." He confessed in a voice that portrayed his utmost sympathy. Roxas flushed as the rest of the class burst into laughter, and sunk down into his seat. There was no way he was going to voluntarily play any of this again until he'd taken his sax home and practiced with it.

The rest of band was spent listening to Zack assist the woodwinds while Sephiroth drilled the brass section. Roxas vaguely recalled his next period, and wondering why Vexen had a shriveled hand sitting on a jar on his desk, before his school daze was broken by both Axel and Demyx dragging him out of his last period class and towards Axel's car, though the rest of the group was nowhere in sight. (Probably had previous arrangements, considering it wasn't a Friday) The entire time, Roxas's saxophone case bumped up against his leg and Demyx's, until the older blonde snatched it up with a squeal- once he'd realized what it was.

"You have your saxophone? Why do you have your saxophone?" The blonde interrogated, clutching the instrument and it's case to his chest like one would a small child. Roxas half-heard him and half concentrated on how Axel's fingers had entwined with his own while they were walking.

"Uh. I need to practice some stuff for band later." He murmured, feeling butterflies dart around in his stomach like a rabid spider was trying to kill them all. Demyx's eyes went wide in understanding before his lips quirked into a grin.

"I can help you!" Demyx exclaimed, his eyes bright with excitement. Axel's hand was very warm and comforting- smooth and not at all clammy. Roxas nodded absently as they reached the SUV and made their way to Axel's apartment for another day of hanging out after school.

Demyx immediately gravitated to Axel's gaming systems as soon as they entered the redhead's apartment, jabbering about the new Fatal Struggle game. Axel and Roxas glanced briefly at each other, shuffling over to the couch and catching the offered controllers that were thrust at them.

Demyx delicately placed the game disk into the console, whipping around to face the two on the couch as it began loading. "_I challenge you to Fatal Struggle!_" The blonde roared, jabbing a finger at Axel. The propositioned teen pressed the 'start' button on his controller, tossing a couch pillow at Demyx as the blonde squealed and scrambled for his own controller. Roxas had learned not to ask.

About an hour of videogame tunes, obscenities and many, many "two of three!" exclamations, the front door burst open with Reno's typical sing-song announcement that he was home. Demyx leapt at the man with a shriek, much like he had every single day that Roxas had come over and the redheaded man had arrived home early, and the two landed in a heap in the hallway.

Axel scowled at his t.v., the word 'pause' flashing across the screen every few seconds. Roxas shifted in his seat, leaning up against Axel to pull his feet out from under him and then sitting upright. Demyx bounced back to his spot on the floor, sliding down and crossing his legs before snatching up his controller.

"Hey, Roxas." The redhead piped up, and the aforementioned teen turned to look at him in inquiry. "You know I'm kinda jealous of you? At least your big bro isn't an immature simpleton." Axel muttered as Demyx un-paused their game, tightening his grip on the controller in his hands so much that his knuckles stained white. Roxas's face contorted into an odd look. Reno really wasn't immature… he was more carefree than anything. It's not like the guy made fart jokes or tried to bash his head against someone else's as a show of masculinity.

"Well..." Roxas began, only partially concentrating on the fact that Demyx was now firing a cow grenade at his character in the game. "Sora's immature." He continued, at the same time idly wondering how Axel could have happened to overlook that tiny detail.

Axel shook his head, maneuvering his character about with the analog stick, "But Sora's your age, Rox. I'm talking about a guy who's seven years older than you, and acts like he's five."

Roxas was silent for a moment as he pressed down on the 'x' button in order to dodge a crate aimed at his character's head. "I have another big brother who's nine years older than me. His name's Cloud. He's not immature, though." Roxas informed simply, expecting the conversation to end there. Instead, Demyx paused their game once more and turned to his companions on the couch with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh? Nine years older, you say?" The blonde teen pushed himself onto his knees so that he was fully facing the couch. "Is he a musician? A fireman? A stripper?" Demyx's eyes lit up a bit at his last suggestion. Axel snorted at the look of dawning mortification and disgust on Roxas's face.

The blonde teen blanched, refusing to let that image even come close to entering his mind. "_No._ He has two jobs. I don't know what the first one is- and it's _not_ stripping!" He growled- instantly deflating the look of hope and hidden perverseness that had dawned upon Demyx's face.

"He runs a business called Strife Delivery Services. I'm scared to know what they deliver, though." Roxas muttered the last part under his breath before continuing. "Mom remarried after he moved out, s'why he still has our dad's last name. I'd rather be called a Strife though. I hate my last name now."

A loud crash resounded from somewhere beyond the living room. The trio looked at each other, immediately scrambling up and crowding around the doorway, their eyes landing on the figure inside the kitchen. Reno was standing at the sink with his back to the three, hand poised in the air and a scattered heap of glass shards at his feet.

"You okay, Reno?" Axel called out to his older brother, a nervous waver in his voice as he took a step into the kitchen, glass crunching under his feet. Roxas and Demyx moved to follow suit- but neither of them wore shoes, unlike Axel, and so the redhead held out a thin arm to stop them.

Reno turned, slowly and mechanically, until he spotted the others. "Roxas…" The redheaded man started out, voice uneven and somewhat choked. "Yuh. You're Cloud's... little... brother?" Reno squeaked out in a whisper, a haunted look slowly but surely dawning on the man's face. Confusion was the first thing that registered in Roxas's brain, and he muttered a soft 'yeah' to Reno. The man swallowed thickly, his eyes becoming unfocused and hazy.

"That means… that Sora- would be Cloud's.. other... little brother." Exactly three agonizingly slow seconds ticked by before Reno seemed to snap back into focus like he'd been electrocuted in the ass with a bolt of lightning. "Shit!" The man shrieked, hands flying to his head and clutching to the wild red locks there. "Shit shit shit- Fuck!" Roxas's eyes went wide, taken aback as Axel scowled and tried to approach his brother.

"Reno, what's wr-" Lost in his own world, Reno cut him off with a wail of despair, hands moving from his head to make half clawing motions in the air.

"Oh God. I am so fucking screwed!" Reno's vivid blue eyes darted over to Roxas- who jumped like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming army tank. "You!" Roxas pointed to himself as that single word was roared from the red-haired man. "You have to get out of here!" Reno squawked, making wild hand motions. The trio of boys continued to stare at him like he had just spontaneously generated a four-assed elephant.

"Go! Get out of my house!" Reno urged, ushering the trio back into the living room, ignoring the crunching of glass at his rapid movements.

"Reno! What the fuck's going on?" Axel snapped as they were pushed out of the kitchen, watching his brother begin to pace nervously and mutter to himself in a low voice. Instead of even listening to his little brother, the older Hara sibling halted in his steps and turned to grab Roxas roughly by the shoulders and bring him close.

"You never met me. You don't know me. Sora doesn't know me. Okay?" Before the blond teen could even muster up a reply, he was released as Reno turned around again and made his way across the apartment towards his room. Roxas exchanged a helpless look with Demyx as Axel clenched his fists.

" Reno, if y-" He was once again blatantly ignored by his brother as Reno whirled around with frantic eyes before they landed on Roxas once again.

"What are you still doing here? Get out!"

All Roxas could do was produce an utterly puzzled look, which apparently didn't satisfy Reno. The man was back in front of him once again, and Roxas let out a shout of surprise when Reno leaned over and scooped Roxas up bridal style, turning and heading for the front door.

Axel's mouth dropped in shock for a split second before snapping shut with a snarl. " Reno, what the _hell_?" He hissed, immediately following his brother when he got no reply.

Reno yanked his front door open and literally tossed Roxas outside, paying no attention to the blonde's startled yelp as he landed on his bum. "And for the record, I never touched either of you inappropriately!" The redhead proclaimed hurriedly before slamming the door in Roxas's face.

The sounds of thudding and Axel's angry shouts were all Roxas heard before the door opened once more. Axel and Demyx were ungracefully shoved outside along with Demyx and Roxas's belongings before the door shut again, a loud click announcing its finality.

"What just happened?" Roxas asked softly as Axel stood up with a growl. Demyx shook his head and Axel didn't answer, which meant that the entire fiasco was a complete mystery to both boys. Axel brushed himself off before turning to look at Roxas.

"Do you mind if we crash at your place for a while? I don't think Reno is going to be letting me back in anytime soon."

-----

"Alrighty, first give me the sax." Demyx ordered, holding his hands out and skimming over the pages of music in front of them. The younger blonde beside him arched an eyebrow, carefully placing his instrument in Demyx's arms. In all honesty, Roxas had no idea what to expect from the taller teen beside him. Any time he'd asked Sora or Cloud for help, they'd suggested that he clap out the rhythm to the song or something utterly useless like that.

Demyx pulled his gaze away from the music and to the saxophone in his lap, propping it upright and slipping the black strap attached to it around his neck. The blonde reached up and eased Roxas's mouthpiece off the instrument, leaning forward and placing it back in the case.

Roxas stared. He continued to stare as Demyx began digging around in his pocket, a look of deep concentration on his face. The look changed to one of triumph moments later when the blonde pulled his hand out to reveal an alto sax mouthpiece, complete with reed and all.

Without offering any type of explanation as to why the hell there was an alto sax mouthpiece in his pocket, Demyx stuck his mouthpiece onto the instrument in his hands and wedged it into the proper position. He blew a few experimental notes, pausing to adjust the mouthpiece before running up and down the F scale quickly, both octaves, without so much as a squeak or a faulty note change. Roxas felt his mouth part a little with utter shock.

"So which part were you having trouble with?" Demyx asked, glancing at his companion and shifting to get into a more comfortable position on his knees. Roxas was pretty sure he gestured in the general direction of his sheet music, but he wasn't positive.

"Starting at measure fifty seven? Okay!" Demyx interpreted cheerily before training his eyes on the music and starting at the aforementioned measure. He played for eight measures, breezing through the part that Roxas was having such a tough time with.

"That was the part, right? Did I play it clear enough for you to try?" Demyx piped up, gaze traveling over to Roxas. After a few minutes of speechless staring from the boy, Demyx frowned in confusion, fidgeting with the saxophone's keys.

"What? Is there something on my face?" The teen asked, reaching up to brush at his cheeks with a nervous half-smile.

Roxas mentally slapped himself out of his stupor and quickly shook his head. "N-no. I just…you…you never told me you could play alto sax." He muttered softly, feeling like an utter klutz to have such a hard time at something that the blonde before him had absolutely no problem with.

Demyx's face immediately cleared up and he grinned in understanding. "Yeah. It's a fun instrument, but I'm not the best at it. I hardly ever get to play one." He explained, patting the instrument fondly and removing its strap from his neck.

Roxas could hardly keep from snorting in disbelief. If Demyx was _that_ good, and he hardly ever played on an alto, then Roxas was just a little frightened to hear the other teen play an instrument he handled on a regular basis, like his flute.

"I'm just glad you don't play the clarinet." Demyx continued, chuckling slightly as he pulled his mouthpiece off the alto in his lap and replaced it in his pocket. Roxas reached out and took the offered instrument back, cocking his head in curiosity.

"Why? You can't play clarinet or something?"

Demyx quickly shook his head, setting about gathering up the music they'd been using. "No, no, I can, and I don't have anything against the instrument itself, it's just that….being in a school band all these years has made me like it a little less than the other instruments. Y'know what I mean?" The teen asked, scrunching his nose slightly.

Roxas nodded in understanding, shifting his alto and slipping the strap around his neck. "Yeah. I'd never want to play it."

The clarinet section in the band _did_ have a tendency to speed up too quickly and mess the other players up, or hang over slightly when the teacher stopped the song they were working on, and little things that were really annoying when you just wanted to play the damn song.

"I don't like to play instrument favorites, but the flute's just so much better than the clarinet. And there aren't even half the flute players in our band as clarinet players. Like, yesterday in class…" Demyx went off into a tale about something Mr. Zack had done with a spare clarinet to piss Mr. Sephiroth off- something that most certainly hadn't been appropriate for school. Roxas merely sighed, a smile tugging at his lips as he reached for his case to grab the mouthpiece in it.

------

After Demyx and Roxas had finished their impromptu music lesson, the two blondes trudged downstairs to see Axel seated on the couch, lazily flipping through the television stations with a look of utter boredom. Riku and Sora were on the loveseat, conversing- bickering- lightly with each other. When Axel caught sight of Roxas on the stairs, the redhead immediately perked up, sitting up from his slouch and patting the empty seat beside him. "Hey, Roxas, long time no see. Take a seat?" Roxas did so, slipping into the empty space with a nod of gratitude as Demyx took the recliner next to the couch.

"So..." Sora began, clapping his hands together and dispersing any internal dialogue that might have been going on. Everyone glanced up to watch the russet-haired boy approach the movie rack and place a finger on it. "What movie shall we watch?"

"Pink Spider." Roxas said softly, ducking his head with a flush as Sora squealed out a coo of delight and wrenched the DVD case from where it was hidden amongst the plethora of movies. Demyx's face split into a wild grin and Axel peered over at Roxas in confusion.

"Pink Spider? Is it like... a chick flick or something?" Roxas shook his head, murmuring to the taller male that he'd find out whenever the movie started. Sora slipped the DVD into the player, bounding to the edge of the living room to flick the lights off and then returning just as quickly while the beginning music started to play. Roxas settled down with a content sigh. This was one of his favorite movies, and to see it with Axel would make it twice as good as before.

Once the first movie was finished, Sora decided that they would attempt to run through every single film in their inventory. It was half way through watching some romantic comedy called 'I Have a Large, Thick Sausage.' That Roxas began to droop off, his body wavering until Axel's hand gently guided him to rest his body against the redhead's side. Roxas let out a sigh and immediately pressed into the heat generating from his companion, sleep claiming him as a thin arm wrapped tightly around his shoulders.

Sora awoke with a start from some dream he'd had about sailing across a sea of naked mole rats. The entire room was bathed in a gentle blue glow from the television, illuminating the room's inhabitants faintly. Sora yawned, stretching his arms over his head and nearly catching Riku in the nose with his fist. The silver-haired boy merely moved his head back without a word.

"So Rox, have we figured out why this movie always makes us so- ti.. er...d." The brunette started, trailing off when he leaned past Riku to gaze at the two on the other end of the couch. Sora stared silently for a few moments, Riku following his gaze.

Axel was lying against the arm of the couch with Roxas curled up on his chest, an arm wrapped loosely around the blonde. They were both sound asleep; Roxas's mouth parted just a fraction as soft breaths escaped the smaller boy.

Suddenly, Sora's hands flew to his mouth to muffle the loud squeal that erupted from it. "Holy shit, dude." Riku muttered, eyes still trained on their companions. Like a deranged chimpanzee, Sora toppled off the couch and scrambled over to the wall, flicking the light switch and illuminating the room once more. He hurried back over to the couch, digging around in his pocket for his phone. He grunted in triumph as he finally grabbed onto the device, pulling it out and flipping it open. He grinned wickedly. Oh, the joys of a camera phone.

"Roxas is gonna be pissed at you for doing that." Riku commented idly once the telltale click resounded from Sora's cell phone. The brunette's malevolent grin only widened, adding the caption, "_Step one in operation 'Molest Roxas' has begun!" _onto the picture and bringing up his contacts list. "Of course he's gonna be pissed. So why not have a little fun?"

Roxas shifted, a small noise of displeasure escaping him as the glaring, unnatural light attempted to blind him through his eyelids. The blonde's brow creased, before he turned and buried his face into the warmth below him. Did Riku and Sora have to talk so loudly? He wanted to go back to sleep. The heat surrounding him was way to comfortable to get up f- heat. Since when was the couch this warm?

Roxas raised his head and squinted his eyes open, blinking to adjust to the bright light. His vision slowly cleared, and the blonde found himself nearly nose-to-nose with Axel. The redhead's soft breaths, even with sleep, caused Roxas to rise and fall with the movements of his chest. Breathing. Chest. Roxas was lying on Axel's chest.

With a loud yelp, Roxas shot backwards and tumbled onto the ground in a heap, his face blazing red. He hurriedly picked himself up and spun around, nearly crashing into Sora. His brother stood there, leering at him with a creepy Cheshire cat grin. Roxas only took a moment to register what an unnerving look it was before narrowing his eyes. "We never speak of this again." The blonde hissed in a deadly serious tone. Behind them, Axel let out an aggravated groan and brought his arms up to cover his face, muttering a "Who th' fuck turned on the lights?"

Sora, who never _could _take a hint, just expanded his smile. "That's okay, we won't need to." The brunette informed simply, holding his cell phone out to Roxas. "I had nothing to do with it." Riku piped up from the couch as Roxas took the device. Instantly, the blonde's eye widened and his lingering blush returned tenfold.

"Sora!" He shrieked, gripping the phone and bringing it a bit closer to his face in a spare hope that he was just seeing things. He wasn't. "I'm deleting this. Right now." He ground out, jabbing a few buttons on the device.

Axel finally sat up and rubbed his eyes, his hair sticking out more so than usual. "What's happening?" He mumbled to Riku, glancing at the two brothers who were now bickering violently in front of the couch and playing tug-o-war with Sora's cell phone.

"Sora did something stupid and Roxas is mad at him for it." The silver-haired teen explained casually, making a flippant hand motion. Axel 'hmmed' in understanding, running a hand through his red locks.

Sora chuckled almost evilly at his brother's attempts, releasing the cell phone and clasping his hands behind his head. "Go ahead and delete it. I already sent it out on my contacts list, though."

Roxas halted in his mission, raising his eyes to stare at his brother in disbelief. "_What_? You asshole! I can't believe you!" He punched another few buttons, bringing up Sora's contacts. "I'm gonna...un-send it...or something!"

Sora shook his head, clearly enjoying the situation. "Sorry. Once you send something, it's a done deal. Don't worry though, I only sent it to our friends." The sixteen year old dismissed, waiting for the next reaction from his brother. When it didn't come, Sora glanced up to see Roxas standing there, all traces of anger gone from his face. Instead, he was staring at the phone in his hand with wide-eyed horror.

"Sora...you sent it to Cloud."

Sora frowned, a twinge of panic tightening in his chest before he adamantly shook his head. "No I didn't. I couldn't have..." The brunette leaned over, peering over Roxas's shoulder at his phone. Sure enough, directly above Demyx's contact name was Cloud's, a bright yellow check beside it to show that a file had been sent.

Roxas and Sora slowly raised their eyes to each other, twin looks of fear mirrored in their blue depths.

"Oh _shit_."

* * *

Author's notes: First and foremost, this chapter is dedicated to the **Boomerang**, for he wrote us our first Tiggy fic, titled 'The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret.' We love you BoomBoom. So very, very much. Our dedication to **shrouded-obsession** sort of corresponds with this, because she wrote us our second Tiggy fic, 'My Special Other.' Full of win. We also dedicate this to **Dualism,** who left us in pure joygasmic glee over her eight paragraph review (Reviewers, Dualism totally pwned you. Not that we don't love and adore each and every one of you, because we do, just...Damn. ), to the three girls from Australia named Nat, Rissa and Xtinur, who had to put up with a few endless hours of PR's incessant stressing on this chapter. And lastly- to **Tara (StrawberryQuincy)** who continues to be PR's muse and our dear friend who earns a spot on here just by existing, because her happiness makes PR want to write. (most of the time. xD;;; )

Now that you've seen what it takes to get a dedication, we're moving on...

Random Kyuubi: First of all, I'd like to apologize for this chapter being late and jumbled. The scenes weren't written in any semblance of order, accounting for everything that's disconnected. PR wrote fairly steadily for about half the chapter and then lost her KH mood, leaving me to do everything until her mood was revived. And just so everyone knows, the chapter was a fucking for me. Nothing flowed right. It made me emo sad.

**Psycho Rooster:** And we fought more over this chapter more than we've ever fought about Carmine Complex. Seriously. We had a ten minute bitch-fest over the measly detail of whether to stick that timeskip in the middle of the chapter in or not. And the Boomerang got caught in the middle of another huge fight, in which he was verbally abused by RK and physically abused by PR.

**Random Kyuubi:** I'm sorry Boomy!

**Psycho Rooster:** e.e So yeah. This wasn't a good chapter for us.

**Random Kyuubi:** And to everyone who loves our giganto chapters, I'm sorry, but they won't be as long anymore. Not because we want to disappoint our fans, because that's the last thing we want, it's just that we can't handle it anymore. We're burned out everytime we post a new chapter, which cuts into the time we could be using to write the next chapter. Plus, I have a bitchload of schoolwork to keep up with, and PR has a moderate amount of schoolwork to blatantly ignore in favor of keeping up with her other writing projects. So we just can't do it anymore. And don't worry, the chapters won't be dramatically shortened, they just won't be so painfully long

**Psycho Rooster:** Well, unless I just add in a bunch of random shit that makes it longer... I think we actually had an argument on the length of the chapters. I want to keep them long and RK wants them to be shorter...On a lighter note, we're overjoyed at the fact that the Xigdus pairing was so popular amongst you guys. We really thought it wouldn't take at all, but lo and behold, the majority of you love it. :D And much kudos to everyone who caught the Eyeshield 21 reference. Yes, that was Mizumachi Kengo, #71 lineman for the Kyoshin Poseidons.

**Random Kyuubi:** And everyone, your reviews keep us going, and we promise that the next chapter will be better, so hang in there. And review. A lot.

**Psycho Rooster:** This was posted at four thirty in the morning after I just spent over half of today stressing over this chapter and then mauled my beta reader to look over all 29 pages of this since RK was asleep. Oh. My God. I am so tired that my eyes are burning in my sockets.

****

ZOMG IMPORTANT NOTICE

We are proud to announce that we have posted Carmine Complex's first side story, Hero Complex! It deals with everyone's favorite retarded sitarist, and it'll give you something to read while you're waiting for the next chapter of Carmine Complex. So click our profile and go read it.


	7. Titian

**Carmine Complex**

_**The BirdFox Hybrid Productions**_

**Disclaimer: We own nothing. Thank you, Disney and Squeenix.**

**Random Kyuubi:** ZOMG AN UPDATE. AN ACTUAL UPDATE. I BET YOU'RE ALL HAPPIER THAN A BASKET FULL OF PUPPIES AND KITTENS AND FLUFFY DUCKIES FLYING OVER A RAINBOW OF MARSHMALLOWS AND CRACK. (And some of you thought we'd abandoned you guys. Tsk tsk.) It just goes to show that you can never trust what we say. We said we were going to shorten our chapters so we could get them out quicker, and this chapter is just as long, if not longer, and it's** horrendously**, inexcusably late.

**Psycho Rooster:** There's a few reasons for this horribly late chapter. First and foremost, I had the duty of editing the latest chapter of Reverse Eclipse before I could start working on this (it took up all the free time I would have used for Carmine Complex because there were a lot of old scenes that had to be taken out or rewritten) I've had a perpetual writer's block concerning any and everything to do with this story...and other stuff.

**Random Kyuubi:** Lets attempt to list them: An asshole of a tv.production teacher, emotional issues, finals, prom, two graduations to attend to, getting a job and a boyfriend, little brother leaving for Germany for three weeks, older brother shattering his knee while being a dumbass at band practice, re-arranging her entire room to please her mother-- her mother's spastic refusal to let PR have the computer back in her room, little brother coming back from Germany, preparing for Metrocon cosplay as Jack Spicer, going to Metrocon as Jack Spicer with her boyfriend who was Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, becoming the leader of a massive Zombie uprising, breaking up with her boyfriend, etc

**Psycho Rooster:** I'm a sexy Jack Spicer. ;D

**Random Kyuubi:** That, along with her having to divide her attention between life, myself, and fanfic writing, resulted in this not being updated as quickly. Though, I happened to have been writing while our darling chicken was busy, and had to await for her to put in her half of the chapter before we could update.

**Psycho Rooster:** Any and all questions that reviewers have should be emailed to us if you

honestly would like them answered. Our emails can be found by clicking the profile. If you want a detailed reply to every question you could possibly have, email me. If you just want an answer and not a bunch of psychobabble thrown in, email RK.

**Random Kyuubi: **And to all who took offense to the scene in the previous chapter that had clarinet bashing, I take complete and total blame for that because I happen to be a flute player, and there was a review left by a certain someone who's addicted to poptarts, who stated that clarinets were better than all other instruments, especially the flute . I took offense, and wrote that whole scene. I really don't have anything against clarinets or clarinet players, I was just pissed off.

**Psycho Rooster:** Which means that I had nothing to do with it... because I played clarinet for four years. So, on with the chapter before you rupture your spleens in anticipation.

* * *

**Titian**: n. A brownish orange.

* * *

For the following week, both Niikura brothers had been twice as jittery as a pair of lab monkeys injected with crack cocaine on the Fourth of July. The extent of their unexplained paranoia went so far out that Sora slapped Riku's hand away each time the older boy made any advances, keeping a wary eye over one shoulder, and Roxas made sure to distance himself at least two feet from Axel's person at all times. 

Demyx hadn't come to school Thursday, without a call or a note as to why and where he was. Axel and Roxas had gone to his house to find the blond absent, and the redhead had gone into a panic until Demyx had called him from a foreign number. Nothing was explained, but that Demyx was fine and that he'd be at school the next day.

Zexion's skipping incident had been found out, and the slate-haired senior had been scheduled for a detention the end of the week during the pep rally.

He and Demyx had hardly spoken the entire week.

Meanwhile, Axel seemed to have been plotting the demise of one Seifer Almasy, with the help of Saix and Xigbar. Roxas didn't find out his ingenious (or idiotic) masterminded plan until the following Friday morning in Trigonometry.

It started with Axel borrowing precisely three sheets of paper from Roxas after kindly requesting them. It escalated into small paper airplanes being folded from half of each paper to make six.

From there, the first three planes were vaulted at the back of Seifer's head with more violence than grace. After the fourth one, Seifer released a growl and turned around to level the redhead with a heated narrowing of eyes.

"Do it again and I'll punch you in the damn face." The blond snarled, his upper lip tugging back to give Axel a menacing sneer. Axel shrugged his shoulders at the bully and a waited until the opportune moment.

Seifer huffed and turned back around to continue his work and Axel launched another plane at the back of the aforementioned dumbass. Seifer released a shout of rage and whirled around, a single arm whipping out to connect with Axel's jaw with such ferocity that Axel's head whipped to the side. Roxas jumped up in his seat, eyes wide as Axel froze, immobile, as if absorbing the pain.

He slowly turned to face Seifer, moving to get out of his seat when Demyx leapt up over the top of his desk and tackled Seifer out of his chair with an Indian War cry and sent them both flailing to the ground

Seifer snarled out the words, "Crazy fuck!", a split second before Demyx's fist smashed into his nose. The blond bully screamed in rage and pain, flipping them over and slamming Demyx's head into the linoleum floor with a sickening crack. Axel jumped over his desk, kicking Seifer off his friend a second before Raijin leapt onto his back and tugged the redhead down and into a headlock. Frustrated and more than mildly outraged at the unfolding scene, Roxas pushed his seat back, running to help the two teens as Demyx's howl of pain broke through the tussle.

Thinking quickly, the blond jumped onto Seifer's back, similar to how one would ride a horse, and fisted his hands into Seifer's gelled hair. Grimacing at the squish of un-dried hair gel, Roxas tugged harshly and earned a deranged squarking noise from the bully. Seifer reached up, grabbing Roxas's arms, and flipped the blond over his head with such strength that Roxas felt a sense of disorientation, followed by blinding pain as he hit a row of desks. He couldn't help the pained cry wrench from his mouth, or the flash of white in his vision before everything faded into focus just as Xemnas boomed out.

"What is going on here?!"

All activity froze within an instant. A loud thud, followed by a shout of pain from Fuujin broke the silence when Xigbar dropped the slate-haired girl to the ground in a heap. Raijin and Axel instantly stopped their fighting, though Seifer slammed Demyx's head into the ground one last time.

Xemnas's face contorted into a look of anger. With a speed only performed by that of a crack-injected capybara, Xemnas snatched Seifer up by the back of his shirt and bodily threw the blond boy into both Raijin and Axel. It was suddenly a loud mess of shrieking, bright red hair, and tangled legs before the boys struggled to right themselves away from each other.

Xemnas turned to face Demyx and Xigbar. "Who is responsible for this?" All hands pointed to the three-man pileup behind Xemnas. Seifer pointed to Axel and Axel pointed to Seifer, and at the same time stomped his boot down on Raijin's one free hand that wasn't pinned beneath Seifer's ass. Xemnas scowled and Saix rose from his seat.

"Seifer threw the first punch, sir." Soon enough, a collective murmur of agreement followed from the few students who had witnessed the incident happen and Xemnas turned to face the blond bully.

"Mister Almasy," Xemnas began in a slow drawl. "Is it a natural born habit of yours to make such large displays of stupidity on a regular basis?" the man questioned softly. Seifer opened his mouth to retort, but Xemnas cut him off.

"Seeing as how that was a rhetorical question, Mister Almasy, the answer must be yes. Go to the discipline office. I'll even write you a pass."

Xemnas strode past the boys and to his desk. Axel instantly was on his feet and hurrying over to where Roxas had decided to stay on the floor in the heap of desks. Axel's brows were furrowed, his lips drawn into a thin line. "You okay, Roxas?" the redhead asked softly. Roxas shot him a smile, ignoring the ache in his back an taking the offered hand.

"I'm fine, thanks." Axel grinned, though his smile was marred by an ever growing swell that would most likely bruise a good portion of his cheek.

Roxas rolled his eyes and gingerly moved to take his seat.

Demyx, who seemed to be completely unfazed by his rapidly developing black eye, pranced over to his chair beside Roxas and sat down with a content look on his face. Xemnas returned to hand Seifer a white referral slip and then went back to his desk. The blond bully angrily went about gathering his backpack and supplies before storming out of the classroom in a huff.

Demyx hummed, prodding just below his injured eye and wincing. He released a hiss and then turned to Axel as soon as the redhead sat down. "Hey, is it just me, or is this gonna bruise real good?" Demyx pointed to his eye and Axel scrutinized it for a moment, leaning on his desk to peer past Roxas to get a better look at his companion.

"That's gonna give you one hell of a black eye," the lanky teen commented, flippantly waving a hand in Demyx's direction. Demyx sat back in satisfaction, crossing his arms with a self-satisfied grin.

"Awesome," the blond boy stated, apparently pleased for a reason only the Jenova's Witnesses would know. Axel snorted and called out- rather loudly- to the blond junior.

"Yeah, you like it like that, don't you, y'kinky bastard." It happened to have been said during one of the few times where an odd and sudden silence fell upon the class, so that every student was able to hear the redhead's proclamation.

More silence followed, and Xigbar grunted from his seat with crossed arms and a closed eye.

"And God said, let there be gay babies."

"And there was," Demyx replied with the utmost sincerity.

"And it was good," Xigbar finalized.

Roxas slammed his head onto his desk.

---------

The last five minutes of second period had Demyx sitting quite awkwardly in his orchestra chair before randomly shrieking and cupping his genitals, curling up into a half-fetal position in his seat. His orchestra professor, Hijiri Minase, merely continued scribbling notes down for his next class, even as Demyx fell from his seat in an odd sideways slump. He hit the ground with a thud, backpack landing on the side of Demyx's hip, doing little to help. Demyx moaned and lifted a foot before hitting it against the ground and then repeated the action.

"Mister Minase!" Demyx half-roared, half-groaned out in the manner of a herniated hippopotamus. "**Please**, **_please _**can I go to the bathroom?"

"I'm sorry, Mister Ando, but I'm not allowed to let students out so close to the bell," the man replied gently, flipping through papers once more and scribbling something down on a music score. Demyx released an agonized groan that broke a few sound barriers and hushed multiple conversations going on in the classroom, though no one bothered to help the poor blond. He rolled, both hands now holding onto his crotch (most likely to prevent wetting himself).

The bell rang and Demyx released an ear-splitting squeal, rolling around until he gained enough leverage to vault himself onto his knees and then to his feet. "I have to piss Niagara Falls! **Get out of my way**!" he shrieked, and darted out of the room. He immediately began making an erratic and slightly wobbly beeline for the bathroom that resembled the diseased run that most Floridians would imitate when being chased by a rabid alligator.

Once relieved, Demyx proceeded over to the sink to wash his hands when his eyes caught sight of a dollar bill lying inside of the handicap stall. With a shout of delight, Demyx hurriedly dried his hands on his pants and pranced towards it, tripping over himself in his mad dive to get to the green slip of munni. He stumbled into the stall, grabbing up the dollar and stuffing it into his pocket with a triumphant grin.

The bathroom door opened and Demyx peered out to see one very irate looking Seifer Almasy storm in. Instantly, Demyx ducked back inside the stall and discreetly began pushing the door closed with his toe when another voice that wasn't Seifer's spoke up.

"How much trouble are you in?" Demyx peeked out through the crack in the door to see Roxas's old friend, Hayner, standing in front of Seifer with one hand on his hip. Seifer grunted softly and ran his hands through his hair before leaning against the bathroom wall and roughly replying.

"Two weeks suspension."

Hayner's eyes went wide, a hand reaching out to punch Seifer angrily in the chest. This action, although seemingly common between the two, surprised Demyx into staring slack-jawed.

"Two weeks? Fuck, Seifer!" Hayner exclaimed to his taller companion. Seifer pushed Hayner back as the younger blond continued talking, his arms flying up and then crossing angrily.

"You know I don't have any free time outside of school anymore, and you still go and do stupid shit like getting into fights and getting suspended?" Hayner turned his back to Seifer. "Is this your way of trying to break it off?" Whatever Hayner meant, it obviously struck some sort of chord in the blond bully because Seifer instantly straightened up from where he'd been leaning against the wall with crossed arms to grab Hayner by the shoulder.

"Don't twist my actions around, Hayner." The smaller teen still didn't face him, and glowered at the wall.

"I'm under that impression when you're constantly trying to rile up Roxas's friends. I heard about what you did to Demyx. I wasn't gonna say anything, but you're starting to act to him like you did to me last year. I mean, if you really want to break it off, we will, but--" In the span of a half second, Seifer whirled Hayner around, slammed him against the wall and forced their lips together in a ferocious kiss. Hayner's fingers pressed against Seifer's chest before gripping the bully's shirt and pulling his body closer.

Demyx couldn't wrench his eyes from the scene before him, even as the theme from _Twilight Zone_ began to steadily play in the back of his head. Hayner released his hold on Seifer's shirt and snaked his arms around the bully's neck, forcing the taller blond even closer.

Demyx, being the voyeur that he was, continued to watch with a mixture of shock and delight when Seifer's lips parted and his tongue visibly darted forth to pry Hayner's mouth open, large hands grasping to the younger boy's thin hips in order to better force Hayner against the wall.

Gasps permeated the silence of the bathroom to accompany the sound of rustling clothes and of lips smacking together wetly. Seifer's hands dipped down past Hayner's waistband to grasp the boy's ass and the hands gripping to Seifer's shirt suddenly began to push the older boy away.

"Seifer, s-stop!" Hayner breathed out. At first, it seemed that the blond teen wasn't listening- but after a few prolonged moments, Seifer backed away just enough to trail his mouth down to Hayner's shoulder. His hand rose, tugging down the collar before he bared his teeth, digging them into the newly exposed flesh.

"Don't ever think I want to break anything off, unless I tell you otherwise," he growled out.

Hayner weakly nodded and Seifer released his hold on the smaller boy's hips and allowed Hayner to stand on his own. Both teens stood there for a few moments in an almost-awkward silence, until the bathroom door opened and they immediately jumped away from each other.

Hayner hurriedly left while Seifer paused to converse with the kid who'd just entered before he also walked out. Demyx waited until the bathroom was empty once more before bolting straight for LMS.

Xaldin was interrupted from his lecture on the different ways to exercise your pancreas by his

classroom door being kicked in and a blue and blond whirlwind flying past him and all the way to the back of the class. His eyes narrowed in on where Demyx innocently sat next to a bemused Axel. (Roxas and Sora now shared the same table, kicking Riku and Axel out and leaving the rejected teens to sit by themselves at other tables.)

"Mister Ando... Do I even want to know why you're ten minutes late to my class with wet stains on the front of your pants?" Demyx's eyes widened, squinted, and then peered down to catch sight of his khaki pants streaked with water, where he'd hurriedly wiped his hands after washing them.

He hummed in an _'Oh, hello there Mister Kookaburra. Would you like to sit in my gum tree?'_ sort of tone and looked back up at Xaldin.

"Your_ mom_ has wet stains on her pants." Laughter echoed throughout the room and Xaldin's sideburns instantly bushed out in anger.

"See me after you change out, Mister Ando." A chorus of '_ooohhhhh' _followed the man's statement before Xaldin ordered the class to the locker rooms.

While Demyx lagged back to discuss his inappropriate outburst with their furry man-beast of a teacher, Axel and company made their way to the locker rooms to change out.

Without his Mohawk counterpart, the redhead looked almost forlorn. Roxas took pity upon the matchstick and walked beside him. Axel's face seemed to instantly light up. "Hey Roxas."

The redhead reached out to ruffle Roxas' s already unruly mop of hair, and for once, the blond allowed it. He uttered a soft greeting in reply and Axel's smile grew to more shit-eating proportions. Riku shot him an envious glare as he was pushed two feet away by Sora. They entered the locker room to the sounds of rowdy gym students yelling and throwing clothing at one another. Axel made a beeline for his locker and Roxas followed suit.

As they were changing, a slip of paper fell from Axel's jacket pocket, unbeknownst to the exuberant redhead.

Roxas placed his shirt on the bench to pick it up and unfold it.

**My Hero**

by

Axel Hara

**Hero Name:** The Great Inferno! (exclamation must be present and accounted for)

**Powers:** To woo unsuspecting girls and boys with his wily and suave charms. Also capable of manipulating fire, flight, and mad ninja skills.

**Main Goal:** With the help of his esteemed sidekick, Waterboy, The Great Inferno! plans to defeat the evil and nefarious Malibu Mansex and simultaneously save the word from bad sitcoms and minimum wage.

**3 Biggest Accomplishments (3-5 sentences each):**

**1.** In the very beginning... The Great Inferno! met a young and ever-molestable schoolboy by the name of Roxas. Upon saving the boy's life, Roxas instantly fell in love with the handsome hero. They're now in a wonderful relationship.

**2.** Rescuing Waterboy from the evil clutches of the Tyrannical King Lexaeus. It was a vicious battle, filled with big foreheads, obese muscles and pain. Once saved, Waterboy instantly sprung back to The Great Inferno's! side to continue fighting crime and reruns of 'Companions.'

**3.** Saving his ever-so-darling brother from the bowels of paperwork. With such a fine specimen of a younger brother, The Great Inferno's! older brother is quite happy to be saved from his work so that the two of them may destroy evil-doers everywhere with the power of their mad gaming skills.

**What Social problem would you change?** Homophobia. And paying two dollars at the soda machine for a water bottle.

**Strengths:** Looks, brains, all around charm.

**Weaknesses:** School-boy Roxas and the lives of Waterboy and his Brother.

**Draw a picture of yourself.**

On the back was a crudely drawn rendition of what Roxas supposed was The Great Inferno! himself. This consisted of red spandex, a cape, and a pose that looked more like a child with down syndrome than that of a superhero. In the background was another half-stick figure of a boy with hearts floating around his head that had hair strikingly similar to Roxas's own.

Embarrassed, flattered and utterly amused, Roxas couldn't help the laughter that burst from his mouth like an erupting volcano. It was enough to catch the attention of both Axel and anyone within a ten foot perimeter.

Axel was the first to react, catching sight of the paper and squawking rather loudly. In a spastic flail of arms, Axel disregarded his own state of mild nudity to make a mad lunge for the incriminating paper clutched in Roxas's hands. His attempt, however ungraceful, was in vain when Xigbar swiftly plucked the slip of notebook paper from Roxas's lax grip, peering down at the picture for a half second and squinting his good eye.

Axel didn't seem to notice the sudden change of possession, and barreled head on into Roxas. The aforementioned blond let out a grunt of pain before finding himself nicely smooshed between the locker room floor and Axel's bare torso.

"Where is the paper!?" Axel wailed, his hands flying all over Roxas's shirtless chest as if trying to give him a pat down. Roxas squirmed, an almost-laugh bubbling out in the form of a gasp. Roxas wriggled more, blurting out for Axel to get the hell off, and then rolling away from the redhead with a flushed face and an uncomfortable stirring in his groin.

He covered his cheeks in mortification and hurriedly finished changing out. If things kept up the way they had been, Roxas was going to resort to changing in the stalls like the fat kids did.

Axel begged for Roxas's forgiveness for being a 'lecherous old man' and followed the blond around like a kicked puppy as they left the locker room and went to the track.

It was during their second lap around the football field that Demyx came rocketing out of thin air to body slam Axel onto the track. Instantly, the blond musician had his red-haired counterpart by the shoulders and was violently shaking Axel back and forth with enough ferocity to give an obese giraffe whiplash.

"Oh my god. _Oh. My. God_." To accentuate his last exclamation, Demyx's forehead cracked against Axel's own with the utterance of each syllable. Sora's loud laughter, coupled with Tidus's own chime drowned out the thuds of Demyx's thick skull attempting to break Axel's forehead and Riku hid his chuckle behind a cough.

"Holy Jesus! Holy crackers! Holy six dollar and _Ninety nine cent_ prom dresses at Goodwill you will _not_ believe what I just saw!" The blond squealed over Axel's howls of agony. Demyx threw Axel down onto the track and leap to his feet with widespread hands. His mouth emitted a high frequency series of squeaks in an attempt to find the proper words. Riku and Sora glanced at each other, shrugging. Tidus whispered something to Xigbar and the stoner grumbled out, "Some drugs have a lasting effect."

Demyx squawked and breathed out a honk that was better suited for a platypus being clotheslined by an apple core.

It took one irritated Xigbar to walk up behind Demyx and smack him upside the head before Demyx blurted out, "I saw Seifer and Roxas's old buddy Hayner arguing in the bathroom and then Seifer said something and Hayner said something and Seifer pinned Hayner to the wall and then they started making out and it was hot because even though Seifer is a total asshole he's kinda hot and that Hayner kid is kinda hot too and no I wasn't jerking off in the bathroom I just got water on my pants!"

All of this was said in one complete breath, though when Demyx had started to run out of that breath, he continued speaking while breathing in until his paragraph story was complete.

"Wait, what?" Axel snapped, holding his injured forehead as he stood. Demyx drew in a deep breath and Axel slapped a hand over the blonde's mouth. "I get it," he hissed, eyes narrowed.

Demyx's own eyes lit up and Axel let loose a snarl of disgust, wrenching his hand back and wiping Demyx's saliva off of his hand and onto the hip of his provocatively short gym shorts.

"Demyx, you shouldn't start rumors like that about people," Roxas said, placing his hands on his hips. He quite obviously didn't believe Demyx's tale, which was, to him, completely absurd.

Demyx's face turned into a look of scandal and he slapped a hand to his chest.

"I'm not making it up! I saw it with my own eyes! And it was hot!" the sitarist protested.

Roxas still remained skeptical, but didn't say anything. Instead, he sighed and turned from the rest of the group to start up his jog down the track once more. Axel followed suit, along with Xigbar, Tidus, Riku and Sora. Demyx released a wail of despair, crying out, "Guys! Come back! You gotta believe me! Guys!" and ran after them.

"Come on, Sora. You believe me, don't you?" Demyx whined to the brunet. Sora kept his eyes trained on the track ahead and not the fact that Demyx could keep perfectly in pace with his jogging by running sideways.

"I don't know Demyx. I mean, it's kind of a funny idea, but Seifer and Hayner? Those two hate each other more than Seifer hates you guys." Riku laughed softly and nodded in agreement to the brunet's statement.

"Sora's right, Demyx. Next time you want to start a rumor, try picking a more logical gay couple, huh?" Demyx pouted and ran past them and over to Xigbar and Tidus, though as soon as he caught the vicious yellow beam of death shining from Xigbar's good eye, he decided to bypass them and catch up to Roxas.

"Roxas, Hayner's your friend, right? So why don't you believe me?" Roxas gave Demyx a flat look, his tone monotonous.

"Hayner hates gays."

Demyx deflated, his face contorting into a not so uncommon look of confusion. It took a moment before he perked up again, hands outspread.

"Maybe he's just really, really deep in the closet?" the blond teen suggested. Roxas rolled his eyes and Axel snorted from the other side of the shorter blond.

"Yeah, he's so deep in the closet that he's finding Christmas presents and his mom's dildo." Demyx grinned for a half second, about to agree to Axel's statement when the redhead's words completely hit him and his face contorted into a look of disgust.

"Dude, gross," Demyx whined. Axel cackled softly and Roxas backhanded him in the stomach, earning a soft grunt from the lanky teen as he clutched his abused digestive organs with a whine. Demyx let out a loud and insufferable sigh before turning away from them -- though how he was able to do so while still running was a mystery only our favorite psychotic music-whore would ever solve.

"Well, you _do_ know what they say. The biggest homophobes are the ones that are deepest in the closet. So we really could be right," Axel pointed out, straightening up and giving his stomach one last tender pat. Roxas just gave a small, nearly imperceptible shake of his head, his lips quirking upward slightly.

"You guys are hopeless," he muttered, and instantly found himself sandwiched between the two idiots and hugged to death while still being dragged along the track.

"Aw! But we love you Roxas!" Demyx mooed out, rubbing his face against Roxas's cheek and cooing obnoxiously. Roxas slapped him in the stomach, and when that didn't work, his hand went lower. Demyx jerked and dropped to the ground, cupping himself with a groan. Roxas smirked in satisfaction when Axel quickly released him and finished his lap on the track.

------

By the time LMS ended, Demyx had failed to convince a single soul of Hayner and Seifer's secret love affair, and dejectedly traipsed off down the opposite hall with Sora and Riku while the rest of them made their way to Psychology. Upon entering the class, the first thing that Roxas caught sight of was Captain Jack Sparrow (as he repeatedly insisted on being called) sleeping in his chair with a half-empty bottle of rum gripped tightly in his hand by the neck of the bottle. An odd glint darted past Xigbar's eye before the stoner tiptoed over to their teacher, placing a hand to his chin and inspecting Jack's drunken state. A devious grin spread across Xigbar's face and the senior snatched up a chart marker from the desk, grasping onto the rum bottle and gently prying it from their teacher's hand before hurriedly sliding the marker into Jack's empty palm the second he removed the alcoholic beverage.

With a soft chuckle, Xigbar clutched the bottle to his chest and ran past Roxas and company, only stopping once he'd reached his desk.

The minutes ticked by until half of the class had passed, students chatting and the occasional paper ball being chucked at some poor soul's head. At 11:52, a loud grunt sounded from the front of the class and things hushed as Jack stirred. The man jerked to the side just the tiniest bit and cracked an eye open, lifting the hand with the chart marker and pressing it to his lips.

"Augn? Ruhh? Hrm mmm.." Jack jerked the marker away and stared at it, grunting and gurgling for a moment before looking up at the class. "Why is the rum gone?" he asked blearily, his glazed eyes roaming around the classroom with a great deal of confusion. The man got no response, other than Xigbar's dark chuckling and Roxas's exasperated sigh. The man sniffed the marker and stared at it for a long moment before suddenly snapping up to face the class, his gaze shooting fire. "_Why is the rum gone?!_" The teacher practically roared, jabbing an accusatory finger to various students in the front row desks. A heavy, awkward silence settled upon the classroom, and Jack opened up a drawer in his desk to procure a full bottle of rum, sitting back with a contented sigh and hugging it to his chest.

When the lunch bell rang, the typical mad dash for the door ensued, Xigbar hanging behind the rest of the students until the classroom was empty. The stoner glanced around suspiciously before sneaking up to Jack and snatching the full rum bottle from the (once more) unconscious piratey man. He briefly mourned the fact that he wouldn't be there to see the teacher's reaction before quickly hurrying out the door to catch up to the others.

Ten minutes later, as his next class began to settle down, Jack jerked awake to a horrific discovery, and wailed, "Why is the rum _always_ gone?!"

Meanwhile, the small posse proceeded to infiltrate the cafeteria, gathering up an array of munchies and foodstuffs before making camp outside the school underneath a tall oak tree. Tidus had joined them with a happy wave, sitting next to Xigbar and questioning why the stoner looked a little out of it and more than a bit unsteady.

Axel popped open a bag of chips, handing one to Roxas with a soft half-smile. Roxas took the chip with a hum of gratitude, munching on it as Sora struck up conversation. "So there's a pep rally today after school for the football team..." Upon the instant Sora uttered the words 'foot' and 'ball', an icy feeling sunk into Roxas's stomach.

_Smoke. Screaming. Machine guns firing. Maniacal laughter. Terror._

Roxas whimpered and Axel comfortingly rubbed the blond boy's back with a sympathetic nod. Roxas squawked and slapped Axel's hand away, hurriedly glancing around him as if searching for a man hiding in the bushes or in the tree they were underneath.

Demyx shrieked, his hands clapping together in delight. "Oh yeah! Guys! Look what I got at work yesterday!" The blond proceeded to finger-rape his backpack until he wrenched out a clear plastic bag labeled _'Charlie's _ _Candy__Mountain_ with an angry unicorn's head printed on the front.

It was stuffed to the brim with gummi bears.

The entire group released shouts of need as Sora, Axel, Tidus, Larxene and Marluxia lunged at Demyx.

Demyx squawked, falling onto his back and clutching the gummi bears protectively to his chest as his friends tried to claw their way to the chewy sugary goodness. There was a wild struggle, filled with shrieks, biting, the flying of a few gummi bears and laughter before Demyx was released with only a handful of bears left. The blond mourned his loss before digging into the bag and procuring three gummi bears; one red, one blue, and one yellow.

"A-B-C-D-E-F-G," Demyx sang, the small bears in his fingers dancing back and forth. "Gummi bears are chasing me." He had the little bears fake run towards his own head, giving out a soft stage scream. "One is red." He wiggled the red one. "One is blue." The blue one hopped up and down. "The yellow one just took my shoe." He dropped the yellow one on top of his sneaker and murmured a little 'oh no!'

He made the red and blue ones continue to dance. "Like my mommy says to me." The gummi bears were mushed together in some pseudo sexual position. "I don't know my A-B-C's," he cheered, and tossed the gummi bears up in down in celebration until the red one missed his hand and hit the grass.

"Aw, damn."

"Hey Roxas, you want some of mine?" Axel asked the blond beside him, offering a handful of the sweets to Roxas. The smaller boy shook his head, going as far as to push Axel's hand away, glance warily around him, and shift two inches from Axel's person.

"That's okay, Axel. I don't like gummi bears," Roxas replied gently. Axel looked heartbroken for a moment before he shrugged and proceeded to stuff his mouth with a giant handful of the chewy candies. His cheeks instantly puffed out and Roxas snorted into his hand. Xigbar huffed and dug out a crumpled cigarette box from his back pocket, procuring one remotely intact cancer stick and placing it to his mouth. He rolled around again, trying to fit his hands into the annoyingly tight pockets of his pants before he managed to get a hold of his lighter. Xigbar instantly lit up with a content sigh.

Tidus sat anxiously beside the stoner, his eyes wide and curious as Xigbar closed his lips over the cigarette and took a drag. It was when Xigbar exhaled a plume of smoke did the blond speak.

"Can I try?" Xigbar glanced down at his companion, momentarily surprised, before giving ah a half-hearted shrug and extending the cigarette.

"Sure, knock yourself out," Xigbar grunted gently. Tidus's face lit up and is hand outstretched to grab the cigarette from Xigbar, bringing it eagerly to his mouth and inhaling deeply, only to start coughing violently as clouds of gray drifted out of his mouth a half second later.

From all around him, a chorus of laughter broke out, and Tidus sheepishly handed the cigarette back to Xigbar, who chuckled and placed it in his mouth.

"It looks like you jumped the gun, kid. Let's try it like this." Xigbar took in a slow and steady drag from the cigarette, his free hand slipping beneath Tidus' chin to lift the boy's head upward as his own descended, mouth resting gently against the blond's.

With his thumb, Xigbar pried the younger male's lips open and blew the smoke from his own mouth into Tidus's -- ignoring the hoots and catcalls from all around them. "I haven't seen him do that since middle school." Axel commented airily through his mouthful of candy, a gummi bear falling out of his mouth and hitting the grass. Roxas rolled his eyes in mild disgust.

After a moment, Xigbar pulled back with a grin, eye concentrated on Tidus's slack-jawed expression and the tendrils of smoke floating from the boy's mouth. "...Wow..." the blond breathed out, gaze traveling back up to Xigbar, his lips upturning into a grin. "Another?" the teen questioned almost innocently. Xigbar glanced around the group in a sweeping motion, but bobbed his shoulders nonetheless.

"Practice makes perfect," he murmured, taking another drag from his cigarette before leaning towards Tidus's upturned head and expectant mouth.

-------

Professor Vexen's anatomy class was a walking disaster as soon as the PA came on to announce that teachers begin to usher their students to the gym for the pep rally. Xigbar had managed to draw three penises on each of Vexen's diagrams depicting the muscular, nerve, and bone structure before the man had caught him in the act and had berated the stoner. Pep rallies were something that Roxas had never really experienced before. His old school's Blitzball team didn't have them because they didn't _need_ them. They were popular enough without having to host a school gathering to get some hype.

As Roxas walked with the rest of this Anatomy class to the bleachers, the blond didn't notice Xigbar suddenly disappearing in the ranks. Instead, the blond caught a shock of red hair up in the bleachers not too far from where Vexen was instructing his students to sit. Roxas waited until the pasty scientist was turned around before ducking behind a fat kid and then slipping past his teacher and to Axel's row. It seemed the redhead had already saved bleacher space by completely spreading his arms and legs out to save up a seat on either side of him. Roxas caught sight of Demyx hopping up the bleachers two by two to reach the same destination.

As he slid through the sea of knees to reach Axel, the redhead straightened up and waved first to Roxas and then to Demyx, a happy smile on his face that made Roxas think that life was going to turn out okay.

And then the football team came out.

The first to appear was a tiny player wearing a visor fastened to his helmet who dashed into the center of the gym and froze. Hooked to the back of his uniform was a stick that had a dog bone dangling from it. The gym burst into laughter, and the runner looked confused for a moment before barking filled the stadium. The player jumped, turning halfway and then running out of the other end of the gym as a large dog barreled through, teeth bared in a snarl and paws scrabbling against the polished floor. Kids screamed, running up into higher areas of the bleachers as the teachers got on their walkie-talkies, but the dog was already gone and out of the gym, chasing the running back through the rest of the school.

The next team member to be announced was the quarterback, who jogged out with a maniacal smile on his face and his helmet under an arm, waving at the crowd wildly. Roxas shifted uncomfortably. He recognized him as the same one from the team practice that had tried to shoot him for spying on their practice. It seemed that they were far enough up in the bleachers to go unnoticed as the rest of the team was called out. Roxas released a breath of relief, and Axel glanced over to him, smiling and tousling the blonde's hair.

Xigbar, meanwhile, had been captured and dragged through the throng of students by a familiar blond head until Tidus had them both secluded behind the bleachers. With a large level of confusion, Xigbar stared down at Tidus and then to the many rows of sneakers he could spot through the cracks in the benches.

"Hey little dude, it's nice to see you and all, but shouldn't we be somewhere where we can actually watch the-"

"You know today at lunch?" Tidus blurted out, his eyes wide and filled with too many emotions for Xigbar's single eye to comprehend. He nodded slowly and Tidus bit down on his lip in a contemplative manner before continuing. "Could we try that again... but without the cigarette?"

Both of Xigbar's eyebrows shot up and an 'oh ho?' expression crossed over his face.

"Sure, kid." Tidus's face broke into a grin and Xigbar smiled back just as the blond boy jumped up with arms latching themselves around Xigbar's neck and lips pressing none-too-gently to the stoner's. A small noise of surprise escaped Xigbar before his hands grabbed onto athletic hips and pressed the smaller boy into the wall behind them and kissed back.

To Xigbar, it was like something he'd never experienced. He'd kissed all kinds of people before, even Axel and Demyx. This kid, however, even though he clearly didn't have much experience in this department, met Xigbar with enough eagerness for the both of them. The blond quickly attempted to comply with and copy Xigbar's ministrations, fingers sliding through the older male's ponytail with a smile on his lips. It broke the kiss just fractionally, but Xigbar merely pulled Tidus just the tiniest bit closer to himself and chuckled. The short laugh seemed to startle Tidus into pulling back with an embarrassed flush.

"What's so funny? Am I that bad of a kisser?" Xigbar smirked, but shook his head.

"Eager, aren't we, little dude?" Tidus grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry, I got a little overzealous," the blond boy replied. Xigbar smirked and pulled Tidus back into another kiss, his mouth parting just the slightest bit to suck on Tidus's lower lip. The blond gave out a half-gasp, squirming in Xigbar's arms and tilting his head a fraction more. Xigbar's thumb slipped up underneath of Tidus's shirt, stroking surprisingly hard flesh. Tidus shifted, and Xigbar released his lower lip to initiate another kiss. Xigbar's leg slipped between two strong thighs, and Tidus arched upwards with a sharp inhalation, broken only with a gasp of need. This, Xigbar deduced as he pressed his hips into Tidus's lithe body and drew another noise of embarrassed pleasure from the teen, he could get used to.

----Meanwhile----

It was utter silence inside of Vincent Valentine's classroom as the final stragglers left at the tone of the bell. His gaze traveled over to the small clock in the bottom corner of his computer monitor. In eight minutes, he'd be in charge of detention for the senior class. Oftentimes, there would be no one that entered his room, allowing Vincent to depart for home at an earlier time. However, not a scant two minutes later, his door creaked open and to Vincent's mild surprise, Zexion Matsumoto slowly made his way inside the previously empty room.

No conversation was exchanged, and the slate haired boy took the center seat in the front of the classroom. Two soft taps echoed off the walls as Zexion placed his book down on the desk. Vincent took a moment to observe the title of _'Love Like Morphine' _before his gaze returned to the stoic teen's expressionless face.

"Of all the estranged, self-righteous teens in your group, Mr. Matsumoto, I never assumed you would be the one caught skipping classes, let alone half the day," he began quietly, placing both hands on the smooth surface of his desk. Chair legs scraping against the floor, he stood as Zexion's navy eyes slowly rose to look at him. "What brought this on?"

His inquiry was met with silence, and Vincent's eyes fell shut for a moment before they flitted open to glance over his student a single time. "Ah," he stepped around his desk, stopping in front of it to lean back against the polished wood and cross his arms. "It's clear, then."

Though barely noticeable through his fringe of pale hair, the teen's brows furrowed just a fraction and the corners of his lips down turned slightly. It was obvious to the man that his pupil contained just the smallest bit of curiosity. "It's apparent by the way you've been staring at your closed book." Zexion's left eyebrow rose into an arc, hands moving to grasp onto his novel in an almost protective manner. "It's obvious that you've been wronged... by Mr. Ando, most likely." Something unreadable flickered across Zexion's navy eyes.

Vincent paused to tuck a few stray locks of ebony hair back behind his ear before he re-crossed his arms. "You're never without an open book, Mr. Matsumoto. You may think that you are a hard-to-read individual, but you are not without flaw." Vincent pushed himself off of his desk and approached Zexion, a single hand moving to tap gently on the closed cover of the younger male's book.

"Only whenever Mister Ando has done something foolish do you sit here and stare at your book." He withdrew his hand, ignorant to Zexion's heated glare. "It's happened before- in my very classroom." He motioned with his other hand, one that was lined with scars, to the empty room about them.

A huff of air escaped the teen before him, and Vincent glanced down to see Zexion's fingers dip inside of the hardcover and pull the book open. "It's not wise to be caught watching your students so intently, Mr. Valentine."

Amusement flashed on Vincent's face, and the man gave a dry chuckle. "Avoidance of the subject is the perfect key to giving away the fact that I was correct in my assumptions. What has he done this time, hm?" The ebony-haired man hummed softly, stepping to the side to seat himself on top of the desk that sat to Zexion's right. The teen before him hunched forward in his seat, fingers clutching to his book with such ferocity that the pages began to bend from the pressure.

"It's a horrible feeling, Mr. Valentine--when the one you love rejects you for a mere figment of his heart. For a person who doesn't exist, a hero who will never come to his rescue." Zexion murmured, unable to keep the stinging hurt from his voice.

Vincent released the softest of sighs. "Perhaps it was for the best that your devoted affections were not returned. Had they been false," he paused, "in the end, the both of you would end up with far more heartbreak than the situation that has come about at this moment in time."

Zexion's lowered eyes refrained from moving away from where they were concentrated on skimming over the title of his book in a constant repetition. "How can you say that?" he asked weakly, tone portraying the broken feeling that was no doubt churning inside of the slate-haired boy. A wry smile came upon Vincent's face.

"Teachers are not without love, Mister Matsumoto. I am only twenty-six, though I've yet to find another who would readily return any form of affection that I rarely give out." Zexion lifted his head to stare at his teacher with an unreadable expression as Vincent continued. "I have felt heartbreak in my life; it is not uncommon. Don't think yourself as the only one." Vincent rested his hands against the desk on either side of his body as the teen before him glanced away with a murmured apology.

Vincent nodded once. "There's no need for apologies, Mister Matsumoto. Only understanding. Can you muster up that much, for the sake of yourself, and the companions of yours who have been concerned for your welfare for nearly the entire week?"

Zexion stared down at the creased pages of his book for a prolonged moment before he nodded slowly. Vincent stood, taking a few steps towards his desk when Zexion spoke. "Wh- who were you in love with?" At first, Vincent didn't speak, contemplating his next sentence with the utmost precaution and sincerity. Suddenly, his eyes became downcast and his entire demeanor changed for a scant few seconds. "A hero destined for another who needed him more." He paused, and then approached his own desk once more and took his seat.

Silence descended upon the room as the minutes trickled by with the methodical ticking of a small analog clock hung above the dry erase board. Vincent only looked up from grading papers when the dull thud of a book being closed reached his ears. Zexion sat with eyes concentrated on the dull blue cover of his recent novel. "Did he know that you felt that way about him?" Zexion head lifted to stare at his teacher, and was answered with a headshake.

"It was better not to burden him with the things inside my heart. At the time, he was caring for his brother and was in love with his partner. I knew then that I was not the one for him, and I accepted rejection before it was made. It was quite some time ago, and I'd like to say that I've overcome it."

"Aah..." Zexion exhaled, peering yet again at his book. "Do you...have anyone now?" Navy eyes peeked up through a fringe of pale blue, surprised to see the tiniest of smiles upon his teacher's face before Vincent shook his head.

"Love is not easy to find. It's something that has many factors that must be taken into account. There is personality, the feelings of each individual, and things that even we don't know about, but our bodies do. Don't try to find it, Mr. Matsumoto. It will find you in due time."

-----

Whenever the small posse arrived at Axel's house after school, they instantly made themselves comfortable on Axel's couch, Demyx crawling over to the large game case to procure the game 'Present Wickedness.' He popped it into the GameStation II, tossing the controller to Axel. It was evident that it was one of those times where everyone was content to watch rather than play.

"Axel! Protect the banana! The zombies are gonna get the banana!" Demyx shrieked fifteen minutes into the game, hand flailing at the television screen. Axel kicked Demyx in the head from where he sat on the couch, clicking the buttons on the controller wildly as Sora's chants joined with Demyx's.

"Come on Axel! You can do it!"

The front door slammed open at the same time Reno's girlish scream broke through the hysteria of their video game. The door hit the wall and creaked back to half-closed as everyone whirled around to see the redhead shoot past them, a firing machine gun from an unknown location causing pieces of the door frame to break off and scatter everywhere.

Axel's eyes went wide and he ducked off the couch and to the floor beside Demyx, pulling Roxas down with him. Riku grabbed onto Sora, shielding the brunet's body with his own. Reno had his hands over his head, screaming like a madman before running straight into the bedroom and slamming the door closed. Four locks clicked into place on Reno's door and the front door was kicked open to reveal a rage-blinded oriental man with long raven hair and a small tattoo in the center of his forehead. A semi-automatic was held tightly in one hand as the other arm was restrained by a tall, well-built bald man.

"Rude!" Axel shrieked, and the bald man may have glanced over at them, Roxas couldn't tell because of the sunglasses obscuring his eyes. "Rude! What the hell is going on!"

The dark haired man waved around the semi-automatic. "Where is he? This is the LAST time I'm letting that weasel skip out on his paperwork!" He fired off a series of rounds, taking out a nice hole in the ceiling and wall. Axel placed an arm over Roxas, covering his own head whenever plaster began to fly overhead.

Terrified, Roxas clung to Axel's jacket, his own breathing somehow masking the shouting and gunfire. Axel was warm, his scent comforting and the heartbeat underneath Roxas's fingertips racing wildly. "Rude! I have friends over! What are you guys doing! This is my house too!"

The gun was aimed at Axel, unbeknownst to Roxas until he heard Sora's shouting of Axel's name. He looked up at the barrel of the gun and held just the smallest bit tighter to the lanky redhead.

Axel shifted against Roxas. "Dammit, Tseng! I have friends over! Go shoot my brother somewhere else!" Roxas saw a pillow sail overhead and hit the dark-hared man in the face.

"Come on Tseng! Stop shooting everything! You know I'm the one who always has to help them cover the bulletholes!" Demyx whined from somewhere behind them. Tseng looked livid for a minute, and then the locks on Reno's door clicked and he peeked his head out. Tseng caught sight of the movement and his hair seemed to bristle, gun cocking at the older redhead.

"You lazy, incompetent little rat!" And the gunshots fired up again and Rude, the large bald man, wrapped both arms around Tseng's thin body, pinning the man's arms down and effectively stopping the gunshots, though the man did look ready to bite Rude.

"Now boss, calm down. I'm sure Reno has a reasonable explanation for all of this."

"Kill it with fire!" Tseng spat out, and Reno screamed and slammed his door closed. Axel pushed Roxas away from him, standing up and ignoring the blond's shout of his name. He angrily stormed over to Tseng, digging in his pocket and pulling out a set of keys and dangling them in front of Tseng. The machine gun stilled.

"Here's the keys to his room and everything else." Axel smacked them into Tseng's chest, ignoring Reno's muffled wail of, "How could my own darling brother betray me!" and turning to motion to his friends. "We're leaving."

Everyone decided that to be a good idea as Tseng stormed over to Reno's door. Roxas scrambled up, hurrying to Axel's side. The redhead huffed and led them all down and back to the parking lot. Everyone piled into the Axelmobile, buckling up as Axel backed out of the parking lot, nearly hitting an ugly brown BMW in his anger. "We can go to my house!" Sora piped up, and Roxas reluctantly agreed. This seemed to calm the lanky teen, and Axel pulled out of the parking lot.

"Hey Axel, I think you pissed off the guy in that BMW," Demyx said cheerily, and Axel glanced in his rearview mirror to see the same car from before following them.

"Great, he's probably getting my license," he muttered under his breath, moving to flick the radio onto a rock station. Roxas opened his mouth to ask Axel what he was doing whenever the radio sparked to life, music blasting from the stereo and scaring the life out of half the inhabitants of the vehicle. Sora broke into peals of laughter and Roxas felt a rush of exhilaration whenever Axel hit the gas, sending him back into his seat.

"Okay, that car is seriously freaking me out." Demyx poked his head between the passenger and driver seat ten minutes later. Roxas turned around to see that they were still being followed by the car from the parking lot. Axel didn't say anything, flicking his turn signal on and switching lanes.

Two second later, the car followed suit. Axel clenched his jaw and gripped the steering wheel a little bit tighter.

"Go put your seatbelt back on Demyx," he said softly. Demyx whined, but did as he was told. The car ride continued like that until they pulled into the driveway of Roxas and Sora's home. Roxas was too preoccupied watching the BMW drive past their house to hear Sora's pathetic wail as the brunet ran into the house with the speed of someone being possessed. Riku muttered a despaired, 'Oh god,' and followed.

Axel turned to Demyx in the back while unbuckling. "Hey man, is it cool if I come over and stay at your place tonight?" Demyx looked perplexed for a half second, but nodded nonetheless. Axel grinned and then looked to Roxas, messing with the smaller boy's hair and laughing when Roxas slapped his hand away.

They got out of the car and meandered on into the house.

"Hey Roxas!" Sora's hauntingly exuberant voice chirped from the living room the second that they stepped inside of the house. Roxas gave a shrug in response to Axel and Demyx's confused glances. They entered the living room to see Sora seated on the couch with his hands clasped together in his lap and a blinding smile on his face. Thinking nothing of it, both Axel and Demyx dropped their book bags in the entryway and brushed past Roxas to sandwich Riku, who had been sitting rigidly by himself on the loveseat.

In a split second, the aura around Sora's cheerful face morphed along with the brunet's look of utter and despairing terror. His ocean eyes were disturbingly wide, jaw pursed into a whimper.

"He's here," Sora mouthed out, his voice barely above a deadly hiss. He jerked a shaking thumb into the direction of the kitchen, a nervous glance thrown over his shoulder. Roxas felt his heart freeze in his chest, a thick weight falling over his body as his pulse quickened and his breath left him. He made an upward motion with his hand, a silent questioning of 'when?'

The other occupants of the room happened to be relatively oblivious to the silent conversation being held between the two siblings. Axel deftly snatched up the remote control from Riku's lax grip, turning the television on. Riku didn't move. Surprisingly, he also didn't seem to be phased at all by the fact that he was bodily crushed between the two biggest idiots in their group of friends. He didn't bat an eye whenever Demyx tried to use Riku's body as a prop to better help him try and grab the remote from Axel.

Demyx realized the effort of getting the remote from Axel was in vain and huffed, crossing his arms and peering over to where Roxas was sitting next to Sora, conversing with the teen in hushed whispers. He caught sight of jerking motions towards the kitchen and hands that waved every-which-way.

Demyx glanced his head over to the kitchen. There was apparently something of interest in it, but what? He used Riku's head as leverage to stand up, shuffling past the couch and over to the kitchen entryway. He froze whenever a slight movement in the other room was evident, and then continued his quest, stopping at the doorway and peering into the kitchen. Inside of his head, he recalled the vague memory of a metaphor pertaining a cat being killed. That was before his eyes caught sight of the mystery figure occupying the kitchen.

Within a half second, all coherent thought fled from his brain in a faster flurry than Reno running for his life from Tseng.

A man no older than twenty-five was positioned at the sink, his back to Demyx. It was apparent that the man was rinsing off dishes and staking them on the counter to his right. Wild spikes of blond hair bobbed with the movements of placing various cups and plates from the sink to the counter. Occasionally, he paused to brush stray locks of hair from his face. The man gathered up the handful of clean dishes, and turned.

Demyx's breath hitched in his throat. Sleek muscles in the man's bare arms flexed as he reached up to open a cabinet and inspect the contents. The nearly skintight black top that he had on stretched across a sinfully toned chest while his movements held more grace than Demyx had ever the liberty to witness. The teen's transfixed gaze swept across the man's form, drinking in every delicious inch of smooth, faintly tanned flesh that was so wonderfully exposed. Both his top and navy blue boxers (no pants was definitely the way to go, Demyx noted) left every little to his overactive imagination. It instantly fulfilled Demyx's voyeuristic tendencies.

Before the man's sharp blue eyes could spot him, Demyx whirled around and shot back into the living room, grabbing the back of the couch and vaulting over it to land exactly next to Roxas, snatching the blond's arms in a death grip. All attention instantly snapped to them as Demyx violently shook Roxas back and forth, hissing out, "Roxas! _Why is there a sex god in your kitchen?_" His voice was filled with a flaming intensity like that of a thousand gay strippers.

Roxas furrowed his brows in mild confusion, the gears in his head churning before he asked softly.

"There's a sasquatch in my kitchen?" Demyx violently shook the blond boy, his eyes alight with a passion so haunting that it left Roxas in a distinct level of unease.

"No, you fool! Sex god!_ Sex god_!" Demyx whipped Roxas around to face the direction of the kitchen doorway. Upon hearing this, both Sora and Axel turned in their seats to peer inquisitively into the kitchen, only to have Sora turn back a few seconds later and stare at the television. Roxas scowled, glancing over at the kitchen until he caught sight of Cloud walking across to the refrigerator. He stared blankly at his older brother for a few moments before Demyx's words clicked and his face screwed up in horror.

"Cloud? Ew, no!" he hissed out, a shudder of disturbance running down his spine.

Demyx's eyes went comically wide and his head snapped back to the kitchen. "_That's_ Cloud?" he inquired, his voice in disbelief. Sora and Roxas gave him twin nods. Sora flung out a hand in despair, motioning to himself and the to the kitchen.

"See, what did I tell you all? I knew he was gonna spring up for a visit out of thin air! I just kn-" The beginnings of a rant were abruptly cut off by an obnoxious creak from the staircase to the right of the kitchen. All other potential conversation came to a screeching halt as a shirtless, boxer-clad Leon trod down the stairs.

Demyx's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, his stunned gaze glued to Leon as the man passed them without bothering to spare the teenagers a glance. He entered the kitchen soundlessly and strode up to Cloud, enveloping the blond man in a hug from behind. Demyx's mouth dropped open in blatant shock, gazing upon the scene like a starved man would gaze upon a feast fit for the gods. The musically inclined boy slowly tore his eyes away from the two older men, coming to rest on Roxas.

"Roxas. . . Sora. . . Can I . . . live with you?" the blond teen asked in a nearly disconnected way, his eyes misted over and looking quite possibly on the verge of tears. Sora released a short laugh.

Roxas raised an eyebrow.

"They're only going to be here for a few days, you know," the boy pointed out, giving Demyx a look that clearly stated the blond teen was one of the biggest idiots to have ever played a sitar. Demyx glanced back to the kitchen, staring for a long, wistful moment before focusing on Roxas once more. "Does he sing?"

Roxas's mouth twisted into a frown, his eyes rolling heavenward and his lips parting for a response when he was interrupted. "Roxas. You're home."

Roxas wrenched free from Demyx and whirled around, barely concealing the look of horror that flashed across his face as his eyes landed on the source of the voice.

Cloud Strife, with a silence Roxas didn't know a human being could possess, had snuck into the living room and was now standing behind the couch, arms crossed over his black-clad chest and gaze trained intently on the lanky teen perched on the loveseat.

Axel, in turn, appeared increasingly uncomfortable under the heated look, shifting around awkwardly a few times. Sora quickly muffled an '_eep_' of fear that escaped his throat upon spotting his older brother mere inches behind him, and Riku hunched farther down in his seat, a few beads of nervous perspiration appearing on his forehead.

Roxas swallowed thickly, trying to will away the cold pang of dread stabbing at his gut. "H-hey Cloud. I- uh …didn't know you and Leon were coming to visit?" He greeted weakly, clearing his throat awkwardly afterwards. Demyx stared at Cloud uninhibitedly, a slow, idiotic grin quickly spreading across his face.

Cloud's intent gaze suddenly snapped from Axel to his younger brother, posture firm and rigid. "Short notice. Why don't you introduce me to your friends?" His tone held no ounce of apology, cutting and harsh. His gaze roamed around the various occupants of the room with scrutiny.

Sora ducked low onto the couch, catching Roxas's attention by pressing the back of his thumb to his throat and jerking it sideways in a slashing motion. Roxas swallowed thickly at Sora's somewhat foreboding display, glancing at Cloud to find out the man was still staring at him expectantly.

"Right. This is Demyx." Roxas motioned a hand to the teen seated beside him. Demyx instantly flashed Cloud an exuberant grin, waving madly. Cloud returned the smile with a hesitant raise of his eyebrow before he nodded once in acknowledgement. His gaze then pinned back onto Axel. Roxas internally winced at the look displayed on his oldest brother's face, but continued nonetheless.

"That's Axel..." The aforementioned teen straightened up in his seat, returning Cloud's vicious stare with a tiny, nervous grin. "Uh... Yo." Axel offered weakly, his fingers fidgeting with the arm of the loveseat whenever Cloud made no move to reciprocate the greeting.

Nobody moved, nobody spoke, and save for the occasional noises of Leon rummaging around in the kitchen, there was dead silence. Roxas hardly dared to breathe, knowing full well that Cloud was subject to very random and very violent impulses.

"You have **red** hair." Cloud suddenly announced flatly. The silence continued on as the inhabitants of the room struggled to form some sort of coherent reply. Roxas bit down on the inside of his cheek and Axel shifted in his seat, glancing to and fro and giving Cloud a weak shrug.

"Yeah man, re-"

"I suddenly have a burning hatred for you."

Axel's eyes widened considerably, his expression evident in showing that he was quite scandalized at the mere prospect of an individual hating him for a completely unexplainable reason. Roxas nearly smacked himself in the face with mortification, wailing out his brother's name in a groan. Cloud glanced over to Roxas, regarding his littlest brother with a calm stare.

"Yes?" He countered, a challenge darting across his face. Roxas narrowed his eyes, clearly prepared to start an all out fight with his big brother.

Demyx, however, could not stand more than a good four seconds of awkward silence, let alone this thickening plume of uncomfortable quiet that now sat on everyone's chest like an obese giraffe. He fidgeted, and then jumped up, reaching a hand out to place it on Roxas's shoulder.

"C'mon Rox! I think re-runs of Louis Jeri are on!" He pulled Roxas from his seat with a wild exuberance, giving the blond a mighty push that sent Roxas tumbling forward and landing on both Riku and Axel's laps. Riku squawked loudly, having a mild spasm before somehow writhing and twisting out of his seat, standing up and stumbling back to stand awkwardly by the television. Riku glanced to Cloud for a half second, rubbing his palms nervously against his jeans as Roxas quickly scrambled to sit upright next to Axel. Demyx whirled around, searching for the lost remote control.

Sora made frantic, silent motions to Demyx in an attempt to convey to the blond that his attempts were a very bad idea, but it was to no avail. Demyx released a shout of joy when he realized Axel still held the remote control, and snatched it from the incredulous redhead. He flopped down next to Sora and turned the television on. Roxas was rigid, his eyes panicky and darting from the television to Cloud as Demyx flipped to the appropriate channel. A few prolonged minutes passed where nothing was heard but the sounds of old comedy reruns from the television. Roxas nervously glanced to the side and found Cloud rooted to the same spot as before, watching both Roxas and his loveseat companions like a hawk.

Their eyes met, and Cloud opened his mouth as if to speak, when a loud crash resounded from the kitchen, accompanied by a string of curses from Leon. It was then that Roxas thanked every deity in existence for Leon's rare mishap as Cloud quickly retreated into the other room to aid his boyfriend.

The throttling silence loosened enough for Sora to comfortably relax into his seat, and for Riku to fidget and then take a spot on the opposite end of the couch from Sora. The room soon filled only with the sounds of Louis Jeri's voice blurting out sound effects and the laughter reels that always played after a comedic moment. With the thought of how this old comedian reminded him of Demyx, Roxas let out a soft breath of relaxation. He stiffened for a half second whenever Axel leaned back disarmingly and gently bumped his knee against Roxas's, his gaze still concentrated on the screen.

Roxas glanced sideways at his companion, a fleeting thought brushing through his mind that it was something more than a mere accident, but Axel didn't move again. He began to look away, when he caught sight of Axel sneaking a peek. Eyebrow quirked, Roxas tilted his leg to the side and batted his knee softly against Axel's bonier one. A small grin spread across that thin face and Roxas found his leg jostled by Axel's own. Unable to keep his lips from quirking upwards, Roxas retaliated the gesture, his smirk growing when it was returned. They went back and forth a few times before Roxas pushed against Axel with his entire leg, accomplishing the feat of shoving the older teen a few inches to the side.

Instantly, Axel slipped his foot under Roxas's calf and hooked it around the blonde's ankle, raising their intertwined legs and quickly retracting his own, letting Roxas's drop unceremoniously, heel thumping against the base of the loveseat.

The young blond desperately attempted to stifle his grin as he tilted his head to glance at Axel, only to have his heart nearly stop when his eyes landed on Cloud's form, standing behind the couch just as before, a mighty vicious look engulfing his features as he watched the two teens blatantly flirt.

Demyx, unaware of Cloud even being in the room once more, much less knowing the man was dangerously close to going into _'Cloud Smash!'_ mode, turned away from the television and pushed himself out of his seat. "I'm thirsty. Who wants a soda?" he announced, glancing around at his companions. Riku and Sora didn't even make eye contact with him, and was only graced with the slightly irked raise of an eyebrow from Axel.

Roxas hastily got up from the loveseat, pointedly avoiding Cloud in any way. "Sure." He answered curtly, prompting a gleeful smile to spread across Demyx's face like the plague through England.

Axel sighed and rose, looking as if he'd been forced to shove a gerbil up his colon for entertainment, and meandered over to stand beside Roxas. Demyx, in the meantime, was attempting to work his pleading look on both Riku and Sora, who remained steadfastedly glued to their seats on opposite ends of the couch. He whined softly, reaching out to grab each of them by an arm and tug ferociously. The action managed to get Sora to his feet with relative ease. Alas, no amount of socket-popping jerks was able to even budge Riku from where his behind was apparently super-glued to the couch cushion.

And so, Demyx released Sora and wrapped both hands around Riku's arms, one foot against the couch as he pried Riku up, and even then, the silver haired youth dared not stand anywhere within Sora's vicinity while Demyx eagerly pushed him towards the kitchen. Axel and Riku nervously walked past Cloud, gazes held anywhere but within a foot of where the blond man stood. Cloud, hardly sparing the two a look, grabbed Roxas's arm as the teens fled to the kitchen and pulled the young blond away from the others.

"Roxas, could you come with me for a second?"

Roxas stared at his brother, raising a deliberate eyebrow. "No?" He retorted, attempting to pull his arm from his brother's hold in order to join his companions. Cloud, in turn, tightened his grip and dragged Roxas into the next room, stopping in front of the second-floor staircase.

The man took hold of Roxas's arms, just below his shoulders, and forced his littlest brother to face him. Cloud's expression depicted the highest priority of utter seriousness, his eyes piercing and sending a stirring of mild fear in Roxas's gut. "Don't you see what he's doing?" Cloud asked darkly, causing Roxas to crease his brows in mild distress.

"Who? Sora?" He inquired softly. This, in turn, caused Cloud's fingers to tighten his draconian hold considerably on the poor teen's arms. "**No!** That red-headed idiot!" Cloud nearly exclaimed, had he been anyone but himself. The raise in his voice, however, was enough to startle Roxas.

"Can't you see he's _coercing _you?" The man hissed out, shaking his brother none-too-gently as he spoke.

Roxas scowled, wriggling to escape Cloud's vicious hold and failing miserably. "No, I don't see--"

He was cut off whenever Cloud's fingers dug into his arms and drew a wince to his face, which caused Cloud to back off mildly.

"You're playing right into it, Roxas. You have to protect your chastity!" Roxas spluttered indignantly at the outburst, a wild flush rising up on his face that was heated enough for him to look away. Cloud stilled himself, taking a deep breath and snapping his eyes shut. Silence passed for a few prolonged moments before his eyes opened, now calm and collected.

"I_ know_ how kids like that think, Roxas. He'll try anything he can do to get in your pants. You _have_ to be careful." He said lowly, eyes boring into the blond boy's very soul. A burst of anger began to bubble in Roxas's chest and he had to withhold a furious glower from pushing its way onto his face.

"Cloud, you just met Axel today! You haven't even said one nice word to him, much less had a conversation! What makes you think he's that kind of guy?" Roxas blurted out hotly, attempting unsuccessfully to wrench himself out of Cloud's vice grip once again. His older brother seemed unfazed completely by both the struggle and the harsh tone, replying with the single sentence.

"He has **red **hair."

Roxas's eyes grew to comical proportions, his entire body bristling with rage. "What the hell's your deal with his hair?! That doesn't even make any sense!" He all-but shrieked, finally escaping Cloud's hold with a mighty tug.

**- Meanwhile, in the other room! -**

"So! Cola or Craggy Mist?" Sora's voice drifted out from inside the bowels of his refrigerator.

The brunet gave a quick glance overtop of his shoulder to the three sitting inside of the kitchen. Demyx perked up, but didn't remove his steadfast gaze from the brown haired wet dream sitting at the table with a newspaper in hand.

"Uh, C-Craggy Mist." The blond musician blurted out, causing Leon to glance up for a split second and result in a furious blush spreading over Demyx's cheeks.

Axel rolled his eyes. "I want Cola," he said, giving his best friend a not-so-gentle jab in the ribs and causing Demyx to tear his gaze from Leon and give Axel an irritated glare.

"Same here," Riku added in, looking like he was torn between walking over to Sora and staying put, where it was safe and potentially not life-threatening. He opted to lean against the sink with his arms crossed over his chest.

There were shouts coming from the living room -- where Cloud had dragged Roxas instead of allowing the blond to follow them into the kitchen. Axel scowled and edged closer to the door, unable to decipher the yelling into something coherent. "What's that guy's deal?" he muttered, turning in time to catch the bottle that was tossed his way whenever Sora called his name. He ran his thumb over the lid of the soda bottle, turning to Riku. The shorter teen gave Axel a shrug, popping the top on his own smaller can.

"Cloud's Cloud," he said, moving to go and lean against the counter beside Axel to talk in a hushed tone, far enough away from Leon so that the brunet couldn't pick up their conversation over the yelling in the other room and Demyx's babbling through a mouthful of sugar cookies.

"He's protective of Sora and Roxas, just a little too much. It's not your fault, but you're kind of on his bad side now, thanks to that damn picture Sora took," Riku explained gently, and Axel huffed, popping the lid of his soda and taking a swig of it. Riku took this as a sign to continue.

"You're pretty much a potential Roxas-molester to Cloud, and that's all you're going to have to remember..."

Axel shot Riku a look that blatantly informed Riku he'd stated the obvious and the silver-haired boy sighed. "Yeah, I'd suggest avoiding all bodily contact with Roxas from now on and stay a good three feet away from him at all times," he informed his red-headed companion solemnly. He took a long drink from his soda.

Axel all but smacked his pop down against the counter, sloshing the bubbly drink over his hand and causing the lanky teen to curse and wipe it off on the side of his jeans. "That's bull. I'm not gonna be afraid of touching Roxas 'cause his stupid brother--"

Riku held up a hand sharply to silence Axel, cutting him off with a stern look.

"_Let me_ tell you a story, Axel."

Axel stared at him flatly. Riku took a calming drink from his soda before he began. "You know that scar I have across my shoulder blade? The one that's twelve inches long and reaches across my whole back?" Axel frowned, picking up his soda and taking a loud sip of it.

"You mean the one you got in that bizarre garden gnome accident?" Riku nodded and Axel gave him a single bob of his head to signify that he understood what the shorter teen was talking about.

"Yeah, that one... except the gnome was blond, six feet tall and murderous." Axel straightened up, going rigid. Riku let out a shaky sigh. "Yeah, trust me and don't do anything to make Cloud hate you more than he already does."

Any intelligible response that Axel might have had to Riku's so called 'advice' was promptly lost in the time-space continuum forever the instant that Roxas all but stormed into the kitchen with a livid fire dancing in his sapphire eyes. The young blond whooshed past Demyx and viciously wrenched the fridge open, pointedly ignoring Cloud as the man entered the kitchen, looking nothing more than the slightest bit ruffled.

The rest of the room watched in silence as Roxas kept his back to Cloud, popping open the soda can he'd procured and taking a violent swig from it. In a second, he coughed into the can and started choking, gasping for breath, punching his chest as pop spilled everywhere. Cloud took a step towards Roxas and with an angry shout, Roxas flung the half-empty can at his brother, hitting Cloud in the chest with soda spraying itself over the formerly pristine black shirt. Cloud stared at the can as it fell to the ground and soda drizzled everywhere, and to Roxas, who had Axel rubbing his back and trying to get the blond to calm down. Roxas smacked Axel's hand away and left the room.

An awkward silence fell upon them and Demyx cleared his throat. "So..." He began awkwardly. "Television, anyone?"

Ten minutes later, Sora, Riku, Demyx, Axel, Leon and Cloud were scattered in the various seats of the living room. Leon was reading the paper, looking indifferent to the company as Cloud kept his gaze on Axel with a heated stare. Axel was squirming continually under the man's gaze while Demyx tried vainly to alleviate the tension that seemed to have been strangling them ever since Roxas had locked himself in his room.

"So... uh..." the blond junior began, drawing the gazes of everyone in the room in such a fashion that he began regretting his decision to start up a conversation. Demyx instantly brought up the first thing he could think of, instantly remembering the day that they were kicked out of Axel's apartment.

"Cloud... you ever... heard of a guy named Reno?" Leon froze, the newspaper crinkling in his grip. Cloud's back went rigid and he tilted his head, neck cracking ominously.

"Do you know him?" Darkness was creeping into Demyx's vision, and he feared that he could have quite possibly begun to die from the heat of the man's glare. He quickly shook his head, hands moving back and forth to accentuate this.

"No, no. Just... pulling names out of my ass is all!" He laughed weakly, and Cloud's fingers clenched into the fabric of his boxers. The sound of ripping cloth broke the silence.

"If I ever see that man in my life, I will personally go up to him, **snap** every bone in his hands and then **sever **his penis with a rusted kitchen utensil. Once I've finished that, I will tear out _every follicle_ of hair in his **pathetic **excuse for a body and use them as a makeshift rope that I will use to b**reak **his neck with. Once I've done that, I'm going to **rip** his intestines _out _**from** his throat and then** strangle** him with them, but only _after _I've made sure he's **_asphyxiated_** on his own disgustingly shriveled testicles_ that I'll tear out with my bare hands_."

Axel coughed weakly.

--------

Cloud stared through the kitchen doorway long after the trio had left, taking the occasional sip from his mug and then setting it back on the table.

Sora ran his hands through his hair, recalling how after Cloud's vehement statement, Axel had seemed to suffer a mild breakdown and had to be led out by Demyx and Riku. Roxas had yet to come down from his room, and had left Sora downstairs to take the brunt of Cloud's inevitable verbal aberration. Cloud muttered something to Leon, who shrugged and turned the page in the newspaper that he'd read through a good four times already. Cloud glanced up to Sora, his eyes a harsh steel blue that reminded Sora that they were still brothers, no matter how much of an asshole Cloud seemed to be.

"Sora, why don't you go and fetch Roxas? I think we should talk." Now, to the younger brothers of Cloud Strife, they knew that when Cloud said he wanted to talk, it was inevitably very, very bad.

With a sinking feeling in his chest, Sora made a small noise of agreement and closed the fridge. He exited the kitchen with his gut turning somersaults like a gay Asian in a circus show, climbing the stairs and coming to a halt in front of his brother's closed bedroom door. Music was blasting from within the room, the entire outer wall of the hallway reverberating with the bass.

Sora released a long, '_Why the hell did you stick Quasi Modo in a lighthouse?_' sigh and raised his fist, pounding on the door before him. "**Roxas! **Cloud wants to talk to us!" He shouted, though he was sure it was lost in the cacophony of noise.

The music abruptly snapped off. The door opened and Sora released something similar to the sound of a pig being crushed by a steamroller as Roxas gave his brother a violent shove to the side, stomping all the way across the hall and down the stairs. Sora gave a mild glance heavenwards, praying that their night would be a swift one and that Cloud would be back in Radiant Garden before the end of the week.

Steeling himself, Sora tread down the stairs slowly in the hope of delaying the fate that both he and his little brother were about to be subjected to. Roxas was hovering by the couch, blatantly reluctant to enter the kitchen. It wasn't a surprise. Cloud was the closest thing to a parental figure than any of them really had. Their father was always away on business trips and their mother worked the long shifts at work to keep up with payments in between their father's commissions.

Sora met up with Roxas and the two boys made their way through the kitchen entry as if approaching a funeral pyre. Cloud glanced up at the silent entrance, motioning to the empty table seats. The brothers glanced at each other warily, a hidden message signifying that their fates were now sealed the second they approached the table and seated themselves opposite of the oldest (former) Niikura brother.

Cloud stared at his younger brothers, pushing his mug around in a circle before speaking. "I've come to understand that Roxas has made some new friends…" He trailed off ominously, grasping the mug and raising it to his lips.

Roxas and Sora were silent, their twin stares unblinking. Cloud placed his drink down and continued. "Friends that Sora's known for quite some time." He paused, glancing between the two as mild looks of confusion began to make themselves known in both Roxas and Sora's faces.

"It's come to my attention that mother and father are not around very much to watch over the both of you enough to make me feel_ comfortable_ in knowing that my baby brothers are growing up in a safe environment." He switched his gaze back and forth between the two. Roxas raised a careful brow and Cloud glanced down briefly and then continued.

"And so I think I... That is, Leon and I, are going to move back here."

Utter silence. Disbelief reflected in twin pools of blue. Sora's mouth fell open, stunned and horrified at the same time as the two blurted out simultaneous exclamations of "_What?!_"

In that split second, gravity seemed to have globally increased a good fifteen percent. "Wh- What would you want to do that for, Cloud?" Sora stuttered nervously, his trembling hands reaching out to grip to the edge of the table like a lifeline. Roxas found himself nodding almost hysterically.

"Yeah, I mean... you and Leon already work and live in Radiant Garden, and you **like** it there, and it's _far away_ and... And you shouldn't say you're going to move without thinking it _completely_ and _wholeheartedly _through!" he pointed out desperately, his hand flailing out in a pathetic attempt to get Cloud to see his side of the one-sided discussion.

Cloud's gaze wandered to the side. "Well, I use the term going to move loosely." He began, fiddling with his mug in a faux-childish fashion. Roxas and Sora halted their anxious jabbering, frozen, eyes locked on their big brother once again.

"Cloud. What is that supposed to mean?" Roxas asked slowly, his stomach giving a painful twinge of dread and his throat becoming suddenly parched.

Cloud raised his eyes up to the duo once more. "I use the term loosely in a way that means that Leon and I already arranged job transfers and we've been living in an apartment about twenty minutes away from here for a week."

Silence. Dead, lifeless, complete rigor-mortis-induced silence.

And then.

Sora started to cry.

It began with a small, curt noise that escaped the brunet's throat, followed by another, and another, each becoming longer until Sora was full-out sobbing, fat tears rolling down his cheeks. That was the last thing Roxas registered before his world faded into darkness.

* * *

**Ending Authors Notes**

**Psycho Rooster here.** For the past few months, as you know, we've been busy. So much so , in fact, that our outside life has been stressful. I spent the entirity of my one day off of both school and work to completely finish this chapter of Carmine Complex and then send it to Katraa for beta-reading. The reason that we have an outside source to check for typos and such this time is that Random Kyuubi has been grounded for the past month for being PROMISCUOUS. –shameshame-

And so I apologize wholeheartedly for the delay, and I hope with all of my heart that the next chapter will be up within the next month or so. In the meantime, please hold yourself over by reading Reverse Eclipse or any of my fanfics on my own account. (Psycho Rooster)

I'm sorry, but Hero Complex will not be updated any time soon. I haven't even started reading it. I plan on working on it as soon as I can, I promise. Also keep an eye out for a one-shot I plan on writing about how Riku and Sora's relationship in CC came to be.

AS A FINAL NOTE.

The Great Inferno!'s original character design belongs to a girl on DA named Jubilations. GO LOOK FOR HER MY MINIONS.

Edit !

I'm sorry if this seems harsh, but do most of you always favorite/alert and never review?  
**Because it makes us authors feel like the ugliest thing on earth.**  
D:  
It's really hurting us to know that no matter how hard we try to crank out these chapters, there's always people who just. don't. review.  
and then.  
I don't want to write.  
WHY should I write for a group of lazy kids who can't even tell me why they like what I write?


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